Tamamitsune
by Locolo
Summary: An experienced hunter named Ben, hears one day of a new monster and decides to search for it, when suddenly something happens that will change his life forever. OC x fem. Mizutsune
1. Chapter 1

**I've been playing monster hunter generations when this idea came up. I've seen only two fanfics with Mizutsune in them and since it's my absolute favourite monster, I'm just writing my own. Hope you enjoy!**

 **I do NOT own monster hunter**

The guild lobby was full with life, the smith made armors and weapons all day and many hunters were waiting for their companions to hunt down their next targets, while other hunters were enjoying their break from their last quest.

Four hunters were currently sitting together at a table and were telling each other stories. One of them had a full Astalos armor, which shone completely green in the sunlight and was telling the other three hunters of his last quest.

"I had to kill this Astalos seven times now, but now I finally got the last item I needed from him and could make this longsword here.", he proudly stated.

The others were clapping and complimenting him.

"You have excelled yourself this time Ben, not bad. You don't rest until you have the complete set of an armour, right?", one of his friends commented. The other two hunters were nodding. The hunter named Ben smiled at that before he continued.

"Of course. I need excellent armor from excellent monsters. And what have you guys been hunting lately?", Ben asked curiosly while taking a gulp from his drink.

The hunter who was sitting beside him stopped drinking, as if he remembered something.

"Now that you mention it, I'v been in Yukumo lately and on my last quest there I had to collect some mushrooms in the misty peaks in the night but while I was doing that, I've encountered a fox like leviathan. It had some sort of bubbles around it and foam on its fur. I tried to ran away because I have never seen such a monster before but the foam around the monster made it difficult to ran away and I accidently slipped because of this damn foam. But when I thought that its going to kill me, it didn't attack at all and just walked away.",the hunter shivered a bit at those memories.

"You still have to collect mushrooms? Why don't you hunt some bigger things to rank up? Those collecting quests won't help you.", a hunter in a complete Rathalos armor replied.

Ben had to laugh, his friend Darren was right. Only the important jobs will help you to get famous. Darren loved to challenge monsters to learn more about them while Ben rather challenged them to get the materials he needs.

"Do you at least know something about this monster?", Ben asked.

The fourth hunter was silently listening. He was often together with the others to hunt but he wasn't really interested in talking.

The third hunter thought a moment about it.

"Well the Yukumo chef told me, that my description meshed with a monster called Mizutsune. A fox leviathan which can even challenge a Zinogre. It must be very powerful. Guess I'm lucky that I got away so easily.", Now the green hunter was beyond curios. He immediatly wanted to see and challenge this monster. New monsters were always exciting for him.

"I have a new target then", he stated.

All three hunters were now looking at him.

"You really want to hunt that thing? You might be the strongest of us but it must be very powerfull.", Darren stated.

"Why not? I would be the thirst one of us to hunt something new. And I mean, I've killed an Astalos so often to get the whole armor. Somebody wants to come with me?", he asked with gleaming eyes and looked at everyone.

Two hunters looked very worried and both shook their heads but the red hunter beside Ben looked more confident.

"Well then, I'm coming with you. I mean, somebody has to watch your back.", Darren said with a smile.

"I know I can count on you! We're both going to hunt the Mizu..tsen..zune? Those names... I'm definitly taking my Astalos armor and my new longsword.", Ben stated.

"Its called Mizutsune.I'm going to take my Rathalos armor along with my sword and shield. I'll be ready in some minutes you can pick the quest Ben."

"Yes yes, I know that you know monsters better than I do. Well then let's go.", Ben replied with excitement and walked away to pick the quest while Darren walked into a den to change his armor and weapons.

The other two hunters were waving their goodbye as Ben and Darren were making their way to their next quest.

"You think they're going to make it?", one hunter asked. The other one only nodded and said nothing. "You're never going to talk are you?"

"Be quiet and collect your mushrooms", he only replied while walking back to the table with his drink.

 **Hope you enjoyed the first chapter, it's my first story. Leave your opinion in a review.**

 **Have a nice day!**


	2. Chapter 2

**And here is the next chapter. Enjoy!**

"Okay, we are in the base. Where is the blue box?", Ben asked, he didn't wanted to wait anymore.

"Its right here. I take two potions and a map, okay?", Darren replied from behind.

"That's okay, I'm well prepared. So where should we go?"

"Last time our friend saw it has been…. here. Area 5. Let's check it out."

"Alright, let's go!", as Ben finished his sentence, he ran out of the camp and into area 1 in an instant.

"Shesh, he should calm down or else he kills the monster before I have even found it.", the Rathalos armored hunter mumbled and ran after Ben.

 _5 minutes later_

"Okay area 5, let's see if it is here.",Ben muttered to himself.

"Ben *cough* calm down I'm *cough* completely out of breath…", his friend said before halting beside Ben.

The area was mostly empty, only two Jaggi running around the area. A river was right in the middle of the area, which led directly into area 6.

"Let's take out these two Jaggis first before their causing any trouble. You take the left one.", with that said, Ben charged at one of the Jaggis. With a quick move, he pulled out his longsword and jumped high in the air before bringing his sword down and cutting through the Jaggis flesh. It flew away and lay dead on the ground before it even knew what hit it. The same with the Jaggi on the left, his friend hit the Jaggi right in its face with his shield.

"Okay, now where is the big one. Maybe it is in another area.", Darren suggested.

Ben thought about it. Maybe they should split up but on the other hand…

He kept on thinking until a bubble appeared before his face.

"What the…", as he looked around, he noticed several more of the bubbles flying in the air.

"Is something wro-", his friend asked before noticing the bubbles too.

Suddenly they heard something coming into their direction.

 _*thump* *thump*_

"Something is coming our way. And there are several more of those bubbles. Are those normally here in the Misty peeks?", Darren wondered.

 _*thump* *thump* *thump*_

Slowly, a monster came into the area. It had a pink skin and purple fur on its tail and under its body. On its head were four flappers which were also pink with some yellow samples. Bubbles were flying around the monster and it seemed to produce some kind of foam out of its body. As it noticed the two hunters, it looked at them for some seconds before making a roar.

"So that is a Mizutsune. Well there is only one thing to do. Though it is kind of admirable. I think I want the armor from this monster.", Ben said aloud.

"I definitly want to make weapons out of the monsters materials and learn more about it. Let's get this over with", his friend told him.

With that said, they both charged at the monster. Ben jumped high in the air and tried to hit the monster from above but it glided through the foam at incredible speed to avoid the attack. As Ben landed on the ground again, he found himself unable to walk because of the foam. Everytime he tried to charge at the Mizutsune, he would slip and fall to the ground. His friend tried to hit the monster directly with his sword when it suddenly jumped back and fired a big bubble at him. In an instant when it hit him, he had the same problem as Ben and found himself unable to move. Now that they were both unable to attack, Mizutsune took the chance to counter attack and fired off a water laser which hit both of them.

They flew back and landed in the lake but the good thing was that the bubbles were now gone and they could attack again.

"This thing is tough. But we got this!", Ben's friend said.

"Yeah but I expected this monster to be bigger. On the pictures it was a lot bigger.", Ben questioned. The Mizutsune regained its energy for the moment and just looked at them.

"Now that you mention it, it IS a little bit petite. And I thought the flappers would be a bit bigger. Maybe it is a female, i don't know. But anyway let's take it down!", Darren charged at the monster again and Ben followed right behind him. He kneeled down and Ben used it as a ramp and jumped from his shoulder onto the monster's back. He pulled out his two knifes and stung into the Mizutsune's back. It tried to shake him off but Ben was very skilled at that and continued to sting into the monster's back with his two knifes until it fell onto its side and they both could attack it without any problems. They slashed at it without any merci and when it managed to get up, Ben jumped in the air and landed a very hard strike on its left forleg. The Mizutsune cried out in pain and retreated into another area.

"That was a wonderfull strike. Good job Ben! The wound on its forleg looked really bad, it can't get very far.", his friend complimented.

"Yes but I forgot to throw a paintball at it. We'll have to search.", Ben replied. His friend ran off into one of the next areas and Ben was quick to follow when he suddenly realized something shiny on the ground.

"What is that?", he wondered.

He looked at it for some minutes until he could hear his friend calling for him and quickly putted it in one of his bags and ran into the next area.

 **And that's it. Did you like it? Hate it? Give me your opinion in a review if you want.**

 **Have a nice day!**


	3. Chapter 3

**And chapter number three. I'm getting used to this. Enjoy!**

"Where is this damn monster... ", Ben's friend muttered in frustration. They have been searching a good half an hour for the injured Mizutsune to finally finish their quest. Ben simply shrugged as he narrowed his eyes, being able to feel the exact same thing as if they shared it with each other.

"We only have twenty minutes left. Maybe we should split up.", Ben suggested as he refused to walk around without a paintball in his hand. Since the Mizutsune had retreated into another area, it simply vanished. It was nowhere to be found and the two hunters were slowly losing their hope to finish this quest. But there is always a second time, right?

"Okay, I take the left part of the complete area and you search in the other one.", Darren replied before they both looked at each other.

"All right, let's go!"

 _10 minutes later_

{ Ben's Pov }

"I swear this stupid monster just vanished into thin air.", I muttered.

I only had 10 minutes left and how should I manage to find this monster AND hunt it down in 10 minutes. I hope my friend has more luck…

Then this shiny thing I found came into my mind. I mean, I've already given up to find anything, so why not look at the only thing I've managed to gain here? I pulled it out of my back and looked at it more closely. It seemed to be a scale of a monster and it had the same pink colour of the Mizutsune's skin, guess I must have cut it off. So at least I got one item of this monster. And what exactly can I make out of it? Nothing at all.

"I should keep it to myself that I got an item, I mean, I found it right?"

We haven't done anything wrong, the monster just disappeared. That's not fair. Okay, I forgot to throw a paintball but that is no excuse. I looked at the scale for some minutes when it suddenly started to glow.

"What's going on?"

Is that normal? I don't know anything about it! How should I handle this situation? I was totally confused and it was glowing only stronger from minute to minute. But I don't want to throw it away either, what should I-

My thoughts were interrupted when the glowing intensified and filled the whole area around me. I could feel a power coming from the scale and surging through my whole body. I cried out in pain as it felt like my body was on fire while I couldn'd move or throw the scale away, even if I wanted to. The light blinded me completely and everything went dark when I suddenly collapsed to the ground…

 _5 minutes later_

{ Darren's Pov }

"Don't steal my time!"

A little group of Jaggis was currently standing in my way, like they were planning to steal my last precious time to finish this quest. They can taste my sword! I charged at one of the Jaggis and tried to finish it with one hit, when it suddenly jumped back and two of his friends slashed at me with their tailes before the Jaggi in front of me jumped back and into my direction, kicking me directly to the ground.

That was embarrassing. Even the Jaggis seemed to laugh at me but that was enough. I quickly got up and charged at the Jaggi in front of me, jumping into the air to hit it from above, when it stepped to the side to which I fell to the ground. Head first!

'This can't be happening right now-'

I couldn't even finish my thoughts when the time for the quest was over. That was the last thing I needed. Ben and I couldn't find the Mizutsune again, we haven't even got one item of this monster and now those Jaggis were embarrassing me. The day could only get better.

Back in the camp, I waited for Ben to return as well, but he didn't. That was odd, normally he should be back by now. I'm probably just overthinking…

{ Darren's Pov End }

 _20 minutes later_

Darren was sitting at the bed of the camp, waiting nearly half an hour for Ben but he hadn't returned yet. And slowly he really started to worry, sooner or later the guild would send hunters to look for them. Maybe something happened…

But one thing for sure, Darren wouldn't just sit here to enjoy the soft bed. He quickly stood up and went out of the camp to search for his friend.

XxxxxxxX

"Ben! Are you here somewhere?", Darren's voice echoed in the area. But he got no reply. He went through every area in hope to find him again.

'Damn it Ben, where are you?' he thought to himself. He kept on searching when he suddenly found something sparkling on the ground. A sword… a new longsword made out of Astalos materials. Ben's sword.

"Damn it! What happened here... We shouldn't have split up, who cares about the materials.", Darren scolded himself for being not here in time. But the day was already dying and there was nothing Darren could do right now. He stood up and quickly made his way back to the camp.

He needed to report back to the guild.

 **And that's it. Like it? Hate it? I'll try to make the chapters longer next time.**


	4. Chapter 4

**This chapter will be longer. The first/main shipping will start in this chapter, too** **.** **But anyway, hope you enjoy!**

Darkness. There was complete darkness. Ben doesn't know what happened, he only remembered that he collapsed after touching the scale of the Mizutsune. His body ached every time he tried to move and he had a huge headache. He doesn't even know where he was right now.

Slowly he came to his senses and blinked a couple times to see clear again. He was still at the misty peaks but where exactly, he didn't know. There was nobody else around and the area was full with trees with a huge stump in the middle. But something was odd, he could hear his surroundings more clearly than normal. And he could smell a carcass from somewhere, which made him very hungry… wait what!? He should despite this smell. What was he even thinking? But he was still hungry, surely a steak will help. He reached out onto his back for his backpack, only to notice that it was not there anymore. Maybe he dropped it somewhere… and his sword wasn't on his back too! Instead he felt something… scaly.

He tried to get back onto his feet but his legs felt really odd. He looked back to see if something was wrong with his legs only to see a tail… What the heck!?

What happened? And suddenly he noticed that his skin was completely pink, scales adorning it which were reminiscent of fish-like scales, shining in many different colours as they seemed to be wet out of some reason, coupled together with some flappers on his back. Slowly he started to freak out. This was just a bad dream. This isn't happening right now. There was a little lake nearby and that was just what he needed right now. Putting his head into the lake in the hope to wake up from this horrible dream. But when he walked over to the lake, the reflection showed him something, which completed his thought. His head had four, long flappers with yellow samples and pink skin and a snout instead of a normal mouth.

He was… a Mizutsune. A fox-like leviathan. He was a monster… something he hunted a short time ago.

Where was that scale?! He had to change back! What if Darren would see him like that? He would not hesitate to hunt him. Speaking of Darren, where is he in the first place? Well, it doesn't matter right now. He had to find out how to change back...but the scale was gone. He couldn't see it anywhere. And he had many problems to move with this body. He had to walk with all four legs and that alone was confusing him. And his new tail, which was pretty long and with purple fur under it, wasn't making it any better. But he was slightly larger and had slightly longer flappers than the Mizutsune he had encountered before. So it WAS a female.

Suddenly his stomach started to growl. Seriously? Now at all times? As if he hadn't got enough problems already!

There was no Aptonoth or Kelbi nearby and the carcass on the ground was the only option right now. But Ben wasn't really disgusted, it appeared rather normal to him to eat from a carcass.

But as he took his first bite, he enjoyed the taste. And in some seconds the whole carcass was eaten. Now with a full stomach, he still didn't know what to do. As a Mizutsune, he couldn't go back home. They would kill him in an instant. Now he had no home, no companion and nothing to do. He was completely lost. He didn't know what monsters were doing all day. But soon he noticed that the sun was setting and he had to find a shelter for the night.

He remembered the previous Mizutsune using foam to glide and move much quicker than only to walk. Maybe he could do that too but how…

Ben focused his energy onto his purple fur which was covering the underside of his body and could feel it slowly getting wet. Foam started to come out of every part of his fur, softening it even further while bubbles were now floating around him, too. Hey, at the very least it worked! He had no idea how this was possible but it worked! He could glide through the foam without any problem at incredible speed. That was awesome!

But how could he slow down again? Only upon that realization did he notice the large tree blocking his path. He would inevitably crash against it, and he had no desire to find out wether he could take that hit! Out of instinct he glided his long and sharp claws from his left forleg through the foam to stop himself in time, moving himself to the side.

Well that was close. But he was slowly getting used to this body. Yet, how could he change back… could he even change back? By now, the sun had already set and he still had no shelter. He looked around the area and noticed a small den, decently hidden behind a waterfall. That would have to be enough for the night until he could clear his mind and rest. He used his foam again to move quicker through the landscape until…

Something was wrong. He could hear something whimper not far away. Somehow the noice was familiar to him… No, he wouldn't just ignore it. He quickly went into the direction from where the noice came from.

{ Ben's Pov }

I glided through the foam as fast as I could. I came to a small clearing where the moonlight shone in. I stopped in my tracks when I found the source of the noice. It was a female Mizutsune which was a little bit smaller then myself and had shorter flappers than I had. But it was heavily wounded and had a huge wound at its left forleg. Wait, could it be…

No, that wasn't important right now. I tried to move closer when it suddenly noticed me and immediately started to growl.

"Get away! Otherwise I'll show you what I have done to other male's who have tried to claim me!", she hissed.

I stopped and thought a moment what to do. This Mizutsune must have gone through a lot… and now I'm sure that this is the same Mizutsune I've been hunting before.

"I just want to help you. You're heavily wounded.", I didn't wanted to just leave the Mizutsune here with its injuries.

"Those are just scratches. And now leave!", she replied. When I moved a bit closer, she tried to get up but quickly winced in pain.

"I just want to help you, please believe me.", I tried to calm her down and noticed some herbs beside her. But the female Mizutsune couldn't even give a reply as her body slowly gave in to the injuries before she fell forward to the ground, unconscious.

 **And that's it. Well the chapter was at least a BIT longer than the last one.**

 **Hope that's enough for now.**

 **Have a nice day!**


	5. Chapter 5

**And I'm back with another chapter.** **Hope you like it.**

"What should I do now?", Ben sat in the little den he found behind the waterfall with the female Mizutsune resting beside him. She had many injuries and a heavy wound on her left forleg.

"Okay calm down, I need a blue mushroom and some herbs.", he muttered to himself. He walked out of the den and made his way back to the place where he found her. He had no time to pick the herbs he found beside her while trying to calm down his female counterpart and if he wasn't mistaken, there were some blue mushrooms too. But to combine the herbs and mushrooms as a monster could be a problem. Ben quickly found what he was looking for, the herbs were at the same place as before and he noticed two blue mushrooms beside a tree.

Now how should he transport them…

Well, it should be no problem to pick the mushrooms and herbs into his mouth. And with that, he made a hurry back to the den.

'I hope that she's getting well again'

 **XxxxxX**

A sweet smell filled the little den and slowly began to wake the female Mizutsune's senses. She opened her eyes and blinked a couple of times to see clearly. She looked at her surroundings and noticed that she was in a den but found herself unable to recall what happened. She winced in pain as she tried to get up and was unable to move her body.

"Oh, you're awake.", Ben noticed her as she tried to get up and walked over to her with a liquid on his right claw. In an instant the female Mizutsune backed off and glared at him, growling slightly.

"Please let me help you... ", Ben tried to calm her down again, but she continued to glare at him.

"Why would you want to help me?", she growled and watched his every move but was still unable to move her own body. Ben stopped in his tracks and looked directly into her eyes.

"Because you are injured and those wounds won't heal from alone.", he said.

Her eyes widened a bit at surprise by this answer. Other males she had encountered would have just left her with her injuries. Ben tried to move closer but she immediatly glared at him again.

"Please, I just want to see you in good health again.", he moved closer until he stood before her. She didn't reply and still glared at him but she wasn't backing off either. So he slowly walked to her left side and looked at her wounds. He moved his left claw with the liquid on it closer to one of the bigger wounds as she suddenly took a step back.

"What is that?", she asked while eyeing him out of the corner of her eyes.

Ben pondered for a moment what to say. As if she would believe that he knew such things as how to make potions...

"I... collected some herbs.", he calmly replied while carefully touching the wound with his left claw so the liquid could take effect.

She quivered at the contact and felt a slight pain but after some seconds the wound started to heal. Ben did this with the other wounds too, while the female Mizutsune was watching him silently, her tail almost not noticeable moving from side to side. For some minutes, nobody said a word as Ben continued to take care of her wounds but after some moments she broke the silence.

"What is your name?", she asked with a softer tone while watching him.

Ben thought a moment. Should he use his forename or his surname? Maybe his first name wasn't really suitable now that he was a Mizutsune. So he decided against his forename.

"My name is Glowscale.", he replied with a slight smile. "And yours?"

"My name is Blackclaw.", she slowly replied as Ben was for a brief moment surprised to see her relaxing a bit.

"A pleasure to meet you then.", Ben replied calmly while taking care of the heavy wound on her left forleg.

"So this is….your den?", she asked while looking around the cave.

"Not really, I just wanted to use it for the night before I found you. I'm not planning to stay here for too long.", he finally removed his claw and looked at her. Her wounds were healing pretty good and soon she'll be better again.

"Rest for now, your wounds have to heal properly. I'll go hunting.", Ben made his way to the entrance but was stopped when Blackclaw spoke up again.

"Glowscale… why did you help me?", she asked while looking into his eyes as he turned to face her.

"Because I couldn't just leave you there. You wouldn't deserve that.", he replied. Her look softened a bit as Ben walked out of the entrance.

 **And that's it. A short chapter again but anyway, next chapter will be longer. I'm not really good with names but I hope these two names are okay.**

 **Have a nice day!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Here's the next chapter.**

 **Ddragon21: Do you want a specific human for the pairing? I would have fun writing this pairing.**

 **Enjoy!**

Finally! Ben found two Aptonoth peacefully drinking some water out of a little sea and one of them would be his victim. He used his foam to glide through the grass as he moved swiftly while preparing an attack. Before one of the Aptonoth realized that it would be dead in the next minute, Ben fired a water laser out of his mouth which killed the left Aptonoth in an instant. Since that would be enough, he let the other one escape.

It was a strange feeling for Ben, he was acting like a real monster. But actually he wanted to change back as soon as possible… and the guilt would sent hunters to search for him. But what should he do? He had no idea why he was a Mizutsune now but at least he could help Blackclaw to get better again.

He picked the Aptonoth into his mouth before carrying it to the little den he found.

XxxxxX

Blackclaw sat in the den while playing with some bubbles out of boredom. Her wounds were healing pretty good but it still hurt when she tried to move, so she decided to stay at the same place. Glowscale's words had totally confused her. That he actually cared about her, brought her to his den and healed her wounds as best as he could, was something she has never seen from another male. For her, he was strange. But in a good way. Since she couldn't do very much, she decided not to think about Glowscale's words and tried to sleep a bit. That worked pretty good, because in only two minutes she was asleep.

 _5 minutes later_

Ben entered the den with his prize in his mouth. He was really proud about his first kill. He dropped the Aptonoth and looked at the sight before him. Blackclaw was curled into a ball and sleeping peacefully at the same place as before with bubbles and foam surrounding her. Ben just stood there, admiring the scene. She looked so innocent and cute right now…

'Where did those thoughts come from?'

Ben shook his head and dragged the Aptonoth beside her. The smell of the corpse was waking Blackclaws senses and she slowly woke up, looking at the Aptonoth beside her.

"Well I hope you had a nice rest. The Aptonoth is for you, you have to eat something to get your energy back.", Ben said while giving her a slight smile.

Indeed, Blackclaw was very hungry and she didn't hesitate to eat right away.

Ben watched her as she was looking really cute right now…

After some minutes, Blackclaw noticed that she at least shouldn't have eaten all for herself, but before she could say anything, Ben noticed her expression.

"Don't worry, I've already eaten something.", Ben smiled at her as she was looking at him.

"Thank you…", Blackclaw avoided his gaze and quickly looked away.

"Don't mention it. Your wounds are healing pretty good, you should be able to move again in some days.", he said.

Ben felt terrible, because of him she would have nearly died and he wouldn't even have regretted it. He only thought about killing and making weapons but now… how could he have killed her? She was so innocent and…. He kept that thought to himself.

He broke out of his thoughts when Blackclaw tried to get up. He wanted to help her but she managed to stand and she could walk pretty well.

"Your wounds are better healed than I thought.", Ben looked her in the eyes while smiling. She quickly avoided his gaze again, his smile was practically melting her. She quickly shook her head, the urge was slowly taking effect she could feel it.

'How can he stay so calm, he isn't showing any sign of the urge.', she thought to herself. And the fact, that he was caring for her, wasn't making it any better.

"Now that my wounds are healed, I should leave… Thank you… for helping me.", she said while avoiding his gaze.

Ben was a bit sad that she seemingly wanted to leave as soon as possible.

As she made her way to the entrance, she was stopped.

"You… can stay here, if you want.", Ben muttered. She turned her head to look at him, he had a sad expression which was making her feel totally bad. She felt the urge to comfort him and make him feel better, anything to see him smiling again.

"I… don't want to be a burden to you…", Blackclaw looked at the ground.

"You would never be. You can stay here as long as you want.", Ben said while smiling again. Blackclaw felt herself happy, the fact that she could stay with him was filling her with joy.

He was different than other males, he was more…

She made her way back into the den, when Ben spoke up again.

"The day is already dying, we should rest for now.", he said while curling into a ball.

"You can sleep wherever you want", he said while slowly closing his eyes and drifting off into sleep.

Blackclaw lay down next to him, curling into a ball too. She looked at him again, noticing how peacefull he was looking right now. From that moment, she knew that she had found her mate.

Because soon it would be mating season.

 **And that's it. Hope you liked it.**

 **Have a nice day!**


	7. Chapter 7

**And I'm back with another chapter.**

 **Enjoy!**

"Calm down, I can't understand you!", the guild manager said. Before him stood a hunter with a Rathalos armor.

"Cough… Ben is gone, I ...cough

... don't know what happened but we have to find him.", Darren stuttered, he was running all the way from the quest area back to the guild lobby and many hunters were watching him with a confused look, wondering what was wrong with him. The guild manager raised an eyebrow at that.

"You mean your friend with this green armor? I see… Go and get some rest for now, you must be exhausted.", the manager calmly replied. Darren looked up, shocked at how the manager could stay so calm. His friend just disappeared!

"But…!"

"We'll take care of this immediately, don't worry. But for now, you need a break, we will find your friend.", the manager said, with a look that meant that those were his last words. He called five hunters, all of them wearing a guild armor. One of them took Darren to a tent, where he could relax, while the other four hunters were listening to the guild manager.

"Listen, one of our guild hunters disappeared in one of the quest areas and we have to find him as soon as possible. Last time he was seen, was at the misty peaks, trying to hunt a monster called Mizutsune. We don't know very much about this monster, so be carefull.", the manager said.

The hunters nodded before taking off to the quest area.

XxxxxX

"The manager said that you can have this tent for now, so make yourself comfortable.", the guild hunter said before walking out of the tent.

Darren just stood there, not knowing what to do. He couldn't just relax while his friend was missing! But he had to admit that his Rathalos armor was a bit outworn, the normally red colour now covered with dirt and foam from the fight with the Mizutsune. He walked over to the blue box which was standing in a corner of the tent. Surely he had another armor which he could use…

Perfect! He pulled out a blue armor with some red spikes and orange samples on it. A full Lagiacrus armor.

He remembered that he had a hard time collecting the materials for this armor together with Ben. He hadn't used it for years now…

Some minutes later, he stepped out of the tent with his Lagiacrus armor shining brightly in the sunlight. Also he changed his sword and shield and took a Lagiacrus longsword instead. Since the guild manager wouldn't allow him to search Ben too, it would be a perfect time to test this armor and longsword again in a quest. But nothing big, the manager wouldn't allow that either, maybe a collecting quest. Darren hates those quests but he couldn't do anything else right now. So he walked back to the guild lobby to pick a quest…

XxxxxX

Ben yawned and slowly woke. He blinked a couple times to see clearly.

It was still in the night but his stomach felt totally empty. Maybe he should get something to eat for the night…

Suddenly he noticed Blackclaw sleeping directly beside him. She shivered slightly, the cold air from outside already came into the den.

He wouldn't just leave her like that…

So he moved a bit closer to her, wrapping his tail carefully around her's so she won't wake up and curled into a ball with her in the middle, his warm fur pressing against her skin. She instantly relaxed and laid her head instinctively under his in her sleep, giving a content sigh. Ben forgot about the food and just watched her a bit, before deciding to just stay like that and slowly drifted off into sleep again while smiling.

 **Aaaaand… that's it. Short chapter again but anyway. I wonder how long this story will be in the end. Give me your opinion in a review.**

 **Have a nice day/night whatever. :)**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

Blackclaw yawned before she slowly opened her eyes. She felt like she was in heaven right now with an incredible warmth surrounding her and she didn't wanted to move at all right now.

'Wait, what am I feeling in the first place…', she wondered. Her eyes widened when she noticed Glowscale lay directly beside her, his skin and fur touching her's and his head lay beside her's as well, his long flappers tickling her a bit. She could also feel his hot breath on her neck, while his tail was wrapped around her's. She couldn't remember that they fell asleep like that and Blackclaw was on the same spot as before, so he must have lay beside her while she was sleeping...she quickly looked away from him. But she enjoyed the feeling and she had absolutely nothing against it…

But suddenly Glowscale yawned and slowly woke up, looking at her.

"Oh good morning. I hope you slept well.", he said while smiling at her. At first, he was confused why she was shyly looking away from him but when he noticed that he was still curled into a ball with her in the middle he immediately got up.

"I-i'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that…", he muttered and took a step back. Blackclaw was a bit sad that he broke the contact but quickly smiled back at him.

"Don't worry, I don't mind.", she replied back. She looked to the entrance of the den and noticed the wonderful weather outside. It was perfect to spend time with Glowscale to get a bit closer to him…

"How about we're going to hunt a bit together?", she asked with an innocent look. Ben had nothing against food right now and quickly agreed.

XxxxxX

Ben and Blackclaw were walking together in an area in the misty peaks, trying to find a good fishing spot from where they could eat from. They walked down a small path with many trees on the left and right side while in front of them was a little sea. Ben was a bit nervous, he had no idea how to catch some fishes as a Mizutsune but Blackclaw seemed to be happy right now. She looked at the fish who would be her victim and quickly catched one with her mouth and tried to look as elegant and graceful as possible. She laid the fish on the ground and when she noticed Glowscale's stare, she immediately felt really proud and smiled at him. Ben thought that this was how Mizutsune were normally catching fish and didn't know that she tried to look as good as possible.

He looked at a fish and tried to do the same as she did… he quickly tried to grab it but the fish immediately tried to get away and Ben only managed to hold the fish at it's little tail with his mouth. Blackclaw watched him with curiosity, when Ben threw the fish into the air and quickly catched it again and threw it to the ground. Blackclaw's jaw dropped, she has never seen such a method to catch a fish. Ben noticed her shocked stare.

"Have I did… something wrong?", he asked while she just stared at him.

"N-no, nothing…", she muttered and continued to eat her fish. Out of the corner of her eye she watched him peacefully eating his fish. That was the first time she paid attention to every detail on his body. His fur was perfectly brushed and clean and his flappers were perfect. And his tail was very attractive… she shook her head, it took all of her willpower not to throw him to the ground and… but she longed for contact.

In some days mating season is about to begin and others will try to claim him as well. But nobody except her would have him.

She moved a bit closer to him and cuddled slightly against him and gave a content sigh. Ben looked at her, a bit confused about what she is doing right now. Suddenly Ben looked around, as if he was hearing something.

"Is something wrong?", she asked with concern.

"I… can smell something. Something is coming our way.", he said while narrowing his eyes. Ben knew this scent… his thoughts were right when he saw four hunters coming into their direction.

"Guild hunters! Probably here to search for me…", Ben muttered.

Blackclaw looked at him with a confused expression. For her, hunters were hunters and nothing more. She wanted to ask what he was talking about but he quickly stepped in front of her, standing in a fighting stance to protect her.

"Look, this must be the Mizutsune! And looks like there are two of

them…", one of them said.

"Yes, I bet they've killed Ben! We should repay them!", one of them shouted angrily. Ben recognized this Guild hunter. He has been hunting with him when Ben has just started to hunt in his first quests. But the other ones were unknown to him. But anybody who's trying to harm Blackclaw is going to pay!

"Are you sure this is going to help us? This won't help us to find Ben and maybe these two are innocent…", the third hunter muttered uncertain.

"Are you trying to protect those two monsters? Either way, when they're dead than this place will be a lot safer for others. Ben growled at that.

'Oh yes, this place WILL be safer for other monsters when I have dealt with you.' Ben thought angrily. Blackclaw looked at him with widened eyes. He was trying to protect her…

Suddenly one of the hunters had enough of this talk and charged forward. He quickly pulled out his sword and shield and tried to slash at Ben but he quickly used his foam and glided out of the way. Luckily the hunter slipped because of the foam and Ben quickly slashed his tail against the hunter's head which knocked him out. Now there were only three others left… Guild hunter armor wasn't really the best armor to fight against monsters. But the hunters weren't dumb and this time, every one of them charged at Ben.

( Ben's Pov )

I quickly got ready and fired a big bubble at the hunter in the middle which hit him directly and he fell to the ground, unable to move. Another one pulled out his long sword and slashed against my left foreleg but I ignored the pain and quickly glided out of the way and fired more bubbles at them, when they're unable to move, then I will give them the rest. The bubbles hit another hunter and now two of them were unable to move while one was knocked out. I fired a water laser out of my mouth and hit the hunters which couldn't move. They flew back a bit, knocked out. Now there was only one left…

He looked at his fallen comrades and got even more angry. He charged at me again and tried to slash at me with his great sword but I glided out of the way again and tried to hit him with my tail but he quickly jumped out of the way to dodge my attack and tried to cut off my head. But suddenly a big bubble hit him right in the air, throwing him on the ground again. I turned around and saw Blackclaw in a fighting stance too and growled.

"You're not going to harm my… him.", she hissed. She quickly charged forward and slashed her tail with extreme force against the last hunter, throwing him against a tree. That knocked the breath out of him.

"Thank you.", I said and smiled at her. She cuddled against me again and rubbed her head at my skin. Why is she doing that? But I'm not complaining, it felt really good…

( End of Ben's Pov )

Blackclaw wanted to finish the hunters but Glowscale quickly interrupted her.

"Please, just let them. They can't do something anymore.", I said and looked at her with pleading eyes. Her expression was one of complete shock at my statement.

"But why? If we're finishing them now, there won't be any more problems.", she replied.

"Yes I know but still… please let them.", I pleaded and looked her in the eyes. She didn't seemed to be content with my answer but gave in.

"Fine, if you say so…", she replied and smiled at me again.

'But only because it's for you…' she thought to herself.

XxxxxX

Darren stood on a little boat with another hunter and looked at the sea.

They were both fishing right now to get some Gold fish to finish their quest. They had an hour for this and the time was really necessary for this quest. Darren yawned, this quest was totally boring but he wanted to help this hunter.

 _Flashback_

"Which quest should I take… maybe some Jaggis will do good to test my armor and weapon…", Darren muttered to himself when suddenly he heard somebody shouting behind him.

"Hey, please wait for me! I had to eat something!", Darren turned around to see a male hunter running as fast as he could to his comrades but they had already left for their quest, leaving him behind.

"Oh come on now. I had to eat something.", the hunter muttered.

Darren decided to walk over to him and spoke up.

"Hey, if you want I can help you with your quest. Which one did you wanted to do?", he asked and the hunter looked at him with a surprised and happy expression.

 _Flashback end_

Now he almost regretted to help this hunter but anyway, the hunter seemed to be pretty excited but could he be so excited about this quest.

They are just sitting on this little boat to get some Gold fish. Wow…

Suddenly something was biting at his fishing rod and this fish was not weak. The hunter turned around and saw that Darren had some problems.

"Wait, let me help you", he said and ran over to to assist him.

They both pulled on the fishing rod to get this fish and Darren had a good feeling that this was maybe a valuable fish…

 **And that's it. I think this is the longest chapter so far but almost 2k words aren't that much either. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, leave your opinion in a review.**

 **Have a nice day!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Onyx** **Freak: It won't be finished so soon :)**

Chapter 9

"You're looking like you've lost a fight against a dragon eldest.", the guild manager said to the four hunters in front of him. Their armor was completely broken and useless now and they had many problems to hold their balance. One of them gathered enough strength to speak up.

"There are… two of those devils… they knocked us out.", one of the guild hunters said before he completely gave in and collapsed to the ground. The others just nodded. The guild manager's expression had no emotions right now and was unreadable. He motioned three other hunters to help the guild hunters get into a tent so they could relax.

After they were gone, the guild manager walked towards his own tent in the guild lobby and quickly entered it. It was a rather small tent with one bed in the left corner and in the right corner were many books with monster informations and other things on a table. The manager took a seat on a chair which was standing in front of the table with the books on it. He looked at them and searched for a specific one until he took one of those books which had a pink colour and a small picture on it and began to read some pages.

"Interesting, this is not normal…", he muttered to himself. He closed the book again and took another one, which had a green colour and which was about a hunter with informations in it and began to read again.

XxxxxX

Ben and Blackclaw were currently back in the little den, Ben producing some bubbles and foam out of boredom while Blackclaw watched him from behind, which he didn't know. A lot of things were troubling him in the moment, which he tried to hide from Blackclaw. But he wondered how long he could hide it from her… the fact that he was actually human. Nothing more… nothing less. Only transformed because…

because… one of Blackclaw's scales? He was pretty sure that it was one of her's. But why has it been changing him? He can't just tell her that one of her scales had some kind of 'special power' in it, which was the reason that he's a Mizutsune now. The worst thing was that maybe one day he will change back when he isn't expecting it and then? Blackclaw will not hesitate to deal with him. Unless she would know the truth… but how will she take it? Will she hate him? Despise him because he's only a hunter, killing monsters like her? Or will she…

understand it? Ben hoped for it but he still feared it to tell her. It was because of him that she would have almost died...Maybe she wouldn't even believe him. Suddenly Blackclaw nuzzled him with her snout on his left cheek from behind and looked at him, a bit worried, which brought him out of his thoughts.

"What are you thinking about?", she asked innocently and slowly walked in front of him, her head inches away from his. Ben quickly avoided her gaze and looked at the ground beside him.

"Nothing important, don't worry about it.", he said and tried to be as happy as he could but his hopes were quickly crushed by her.

She used her tail to force him to look at her and she gazed intensely into his eyes. Glowscale only managed to look at her for some seconds before he quickly took a step back and looked away again.

"Please tell me what is bothering you, I want you to smile again.", she said and walked closer to him. She continued to nuzzle him with her snout, which made him growl slightly in contentment. She looked up at him, Ben was surprised too. But she grinned mischievously at him and nuzzled his neck again, which made him growl again. Ben just couldn't do anything to stop her, it just felt too good. After some seconds she rubbed her head against the purple fur on his chest. But this time Ben took a step back and looked at her with a confused expression. She was doing this a lot lately but why…

"Why are you doing this so often lately?", he asked which made Blackclaw's eyes widen in surprise. Did he really just asked her that?

Ben felt a bit uncomfortable, as if he had been asking the most stupid question on earth.

"I… only want to comfort you as best as I can.", she said with a smile.

'Does he really not know?' she thought to herself while Ben looked outside of the den. She touched some of his bubbles with her claw which made them chap.

"Would you mind to walk around a bit with me?", Ben suddenly said which surprised Blackclaw while he turned around to look at her.

"No, of course not.", she said and walked towards him out of the den.

XxxxxX

"Come on! Now we've got him…", Darren muttered and with a strong and final pull both Darren and the hunter pulled the fish out of the sea.

"Yes! Gold fish!", the hunter yelled and happily jumped up and down. Darren placed the fish to the other ones and now they have finally finished this quest. It felt like an eternity for him and that was worse than every collecting quest he had so far… he made a mental note to himself to never take a fishing quest anymore.

"Now let's get back to the guild lobby, thanks for helping me!", the hunter said and turned around to see…. air? He looked around but Darren wasn't on the boat anymore. And all the fishes they have been collecting were gone!? He slowly began to panic.

"Ehm, Darren? Hello?", he said with a shivering voice and looked around again but the only response he got were the sounds from the sea. Suddenly something began to surface directly behind him, which he didn't noticed. But when he turned around, he felt like a thunder hit him before a big explosion filled the air and everything went black.

XxxxxX

( Blackclaw's Pov )

I growled at the sight in front of me. There stood another female Mizutsune, staring at Glowscale with a half lidded gaze which made me sick. Glowscale stood beside me, we were just walking around a bit and came to a small forest when suddenly this Mizutsune showed up.

"What do you want?", I hissed but she paid me no mind. Instead she walked closer towards Glowscale and looked at him with a hungry look.

I quickly stepped in front of him and gave her a deadly glare and growled. If this devil only tries to get him, I'll tear her apart!

"I want to know who this strong Mizutsune is.", she replied and looked at Glowscale again. He only looked at her, a bit confused and took a step back.

"But I would rather love to have him with me…",she said, which was enough for me to be furious at this sorry excuse for a female Mizutsune.

I fired a water laser at her but she quickly used her foam to dodge my attack. To use bubbles or foam against another Mizutsune was useless, so I have to use physical attacks…

Glowscale wanted to help me but I quickly stopped him with a glare. I quickly regretted that I glared at him when I saw his surprised and shocked expression and immediately softened my look.

"Please, stay out of this…", I whispered so only he could hear me when suddenly the other Mizutsune spoke up.

"Do you need him to protect yourself? How weak you are.", she mocked.

(End of Blackclaw's Pov)

Blackclaw quickly dodged another claw attack from the other Mizutsune and counterattacked with a water laser. Ben has never seen her so furious… the only thing he wanted right now was to help her but she stopped him every time when he tried. Why doesn't she want him to help her? The other Mizutsune hit Blackclaw with one of her claws which let her cry out in pain but quickly fired another water laser which hit the other one too.

"You're not worthy to be his mate… I doubt he even wants you to be around him.", the other Mizutsune mocked and tried to slash Blackclaw with her tail but she quickly glided out of the way with her foam. Ben immediately perked up at that. His mate!? What is she talking about?

Blackclaw slashed at the other Mizutsune with her tail and hit her directly in her face. She cried out in pain and fired a water laser of her own at Blackclaw but she dodged it in time. Slowly the other Mizutsune lost her energy and had more problems to dodge and attack. But just as Blackclaw wanted to finish this with a tail slash the other Mizutsune suddenly ducked under her tail and bit into her neck. Blackclaw screamed in pain but slashed her left claw into the other one's chest, which killed her instantly. As the other Mizutsune let go of Blackclaw's neck, she fell to the ground, not moving anymore. Blackclaw struggled, blood came out of the heavy wound on her neck. When she almost fell to the ground, Ben quickly catched her and looked at her with complete shock and worry for her, written all over his face. Blackclaw weakly looked at him and tried to smile for him.

"What were you thinking? Why didn't you let me help you, you could have died, I would've lost you…", he said while tears started to form in his eyes but Blackclaw interrupted him.

"I… wanted to... impress you… I didn't wanted somebody... to take you away from me…", she weakly said but Glowscale only shook his head.

"You don't have to prove anything! You're beautiful and perfect just as you are!", he said and sobbed. Her eyes widened a bit at that and Ben didn't care that he just said that. He noticed some herbs beside her and quickly bit them while the healing liquid inside of the herbs slowly dropped into his mouth. Ben used it and licked her wounds, she shivered a bit at the pain but slowly the the wound on her neck began to heal.

"Please… lay beside me…", she muttered and Ben didn't even think about it and did as she said. He curled into a ball with her in the middle, while she snuggled her head under his and yawned slightly. It only took some minutes until she was asleep and they both lay in the middle of a small forest in the Misty peaks. Their den was at least an hour away and Ben decided to let her rest and looked at her again, a tear falling onto her skin.

"I don't want to lose you… never.", he quietly muttered into her ear and licked her one last time before he fell asleep too.

XxxxxX

Darren yawned when he woke up, his whole body felt like it was paralized. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around, only to see that he was in a little den. What the heck happened…

He only remembered that he wanted to put the Gold fish to the others they've catched when suddenly something pulled him into the sea. Which means…

He quickly looked around again but didn't see any sign of the other hunter. He was completely alone in here. He tried to get up but noticed that his body was really paralyzed. He was literally trapped. He still had his Lagiacrus armor on without any scratches on it but his sword was gone. He must have lost it somehow. Suddenly he heard something from behind, but he couldn't look behind him or do anything else. He felt a hot breath on his neck and heard a slight growl. That. wasn't. a human. He slowly began to panic but was completely at the mercy from that… thing that was behind him. Suddenly this 'thing' walked in front of him, and he finally saw that it was a Lagiacrus. So this was probably its den, and he was probably it's next meal… it looked at him intensely as if it was analyzing him while he shivered in fear. That was definitely not how he wanted to die.

 **And that's it. Hope you liked it, I had problems to write this chapter. Leave your opinion in a review.**

 **Have a nice day.**


	10. Moonlight dance

3k **views in** a **month, the same with my second story,** **I'm** **proud of my little achievement and** **I'm only an amateur in writing, thanks to everybody who has been reading this story so far.** **I've updated** **some of the older chapters and fixed some grammar mistakes and things which** **I didn't like**. **Also** I **wanted to mention that this story** **is** **rated** **M** **for** **a** **reason. Which means that I have warned you, but I'm also going to post a clean chapter for those who don't want to miss any content.**

Chapter 10: Moonlight dance

Ben slightly opened his eyes, still sleepy but content. He didn't know how much time has passed since he fell asleep with Blackclaw beside him but it was still in the night. He moved his tail a bit only to notice that beside him was… nothing? Suddenly his eyes shot open and he looked around but quickly calmed down again when he saw Blackclaw standing a few meters in front of him, looking at the sky. He slowly stood up and approached her.

"You're already awake?", he asked calmly. Blackclaw didn't answer for a moment and didn't turn around but instead continued to look at the sky. Ben was slightly confused before she suddenly turned her head a bit around and looked slightly at the ground before she spoke up.

"Glowscale… would you mind to come with me for a moment?", she asked quietly but in a nervous tone. This question came out of nowhere for him, he was still worried about her injuries.

"Maybe your wounds aren't hea-", he was quickly cut off by her.

"I'm fine… please.", she pleaded and now looked at him with a desperate expression and gleaming eyes. After a moment he nodded and Blackclaw smiled before she walked deeper into the little forest and mentioned him to follow her. After some minutes they both came to a small clearing where the moonlight shone in, with a little lake in the middle of it. Blackclaw walked towards the lake and stopped in front of it and looked at the night sky again while Ben was curiously watching her. The moonlight made her scales and skin glimmer in many colours, together with her purple fur it looked beautiful… he couldn't do otherwise than to admire it. He walked beside her before he looked at the night sky too.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? I always loved to come here.", she said in a calm and sweet voice while smiling slightly. Ben already wondered how she knew the way to this place. He was glad to see her happy but he was surprised when Blackclaw produced a bubble with her claw and touched the water with it, and within some seconds the whole little lake became a bubble bath, bubbles floating everywhere above it which made it even more beautiful.

But which gone unnoticed to Ben was that Blackclaw smirked to herself.

She has often imagined this situation to happen and even dreamt about it since Glowscale saved her. She grew fond of him and the little den which she called home for the last few months, and her admiration for him has grown intensely during this time. He was different… different than any other male she has encountered before. Kind, caring, gentle…

she longed for him for a long time now. And he will be her's from this night on.

"And now I don't feel lonely here anymore. I have you.", she said and smiled at him. This touched him deeply and his expression wasn't hiding it. She walked into the middle of the little lake and turned around.

"Would you mind to come in too?", she asked innocently and Ben just did so and walked into the little bubble bath, unaware of her intentions.

"So this is your favourite place?", he asked while he stopped in front of her, looking curiously which she found cute.

"Yes, I always came here when I could. It's been my favourite place to sleep and relax but now... I'm not so sure anymore…", she said quietly so only he could understand her but this only confused him.

"Why not?", he asked before she looked him directly in the eyes with a half lidded gaze.

"My favourite place is always to be with you. And to have you...", she whispered. Ben's eyes widened in pure shock at this but he didn't even had the chance to say something.

Blackclaw suddenly jumped gracefully through the air and slashed with one quick move her tail at the bubble water and destroyed the bubbles with a water laser which made the air around her glimmer, together with the moonlight that shone upon her it was a sight which Ben couldn't describe with words. She used her tail to make a second jump through the air which made her look like she was never touching the ground. Ben didn't dared to say something and neither to take away his eyes from her, he completely forgot every worry he had and just watched her dancing around him.

He didn't even noticed it when she suddenly interrupted her graceful movements and threw them both with one quick move into the middle of the little lake with her on top of him. She wrapped her tail around his and pulled herself closer to him, her snout only inches away from his. He couldn't get out of this situation anymore even if he wanted to and neither would she let him go. At least not before he would be hers.

"I want you. I don't want anything else more than you. I want to spend every night with you, do everything with you, and never be without you. As your mate, and your only one…", she whispered slowly so Ben would take in every meaning of her confession.

But he couldn't bring out a word and just stared at her with utter disbelief. He thought… something like this wasn't possible. Something which he could only imagine. He always held a distance between them and never got too close to her, but he always felt content when she was around and was always sad when she was sad. He couldn't bear to see her unhappy and always did everything to make her feel happy again but this was something he could have never been prepared for...

She wanted him. She actually… wanted him. But not as a friend. But for something which he thought it would be impossible to happen. Well, mostly because he would have never thought that a Monster could be so... attractive? But she was the most beautiful creature on earth for him and not just a Monster.

Blackclaw waited for a moment for him to respond but decided to act instead. She slowly pressed her snout on his and felt lots of feelings rush through her. She went further and invaded his snout with her tongue while she laid her left claw on his furry chest and enjoyed the taste of his mouth. She couldn't do otherwise than to growl out of pleasure into his mouth and rubbed her body slowly against his, her tail wrapped itself even more around his. After some minutes she had to break this moment for air and looked at him with a look full with love and passion for him.

A small part of her was still afraid that he doesn't want her as his mate and she tried her best to ignore it but this small part of her was still there. But all of her worries were thrown away when he smiled. He didn't had to say something else, it was enough encouragement for her to continue. She connected her snout with his again and slowly continued to rub her body against his, their tailes wrapped together but she still wasn't content with this. She parted and immediately licked him intensely on his neck and took in every taste while moving from his neck to his cheek and flappers. Ben almost couldn't take it and growled loudly out of pleasure to which she only licked harder. She loved it to hear him growl and only wanted more of it. And she could hear it every night after he has marked her as his…

Without interrupting her licking she positioned her most secret of places above Glowscale's and stopped then before looking at him while panting. She looked at him again only to be sure but he only smiled mischievously which surprised and shocked her when he suddenly grabbed her slightly with all of his four claws and turned them around with him on top of her. She had a look of surprise when she saw his expression with love but that wasn't which interested her the most.

She saw hunger in his eyes.

"I love you.", he slowly whispered and nuzzled her cheek to which she slightly closed her eyes. That was everything which she wanted to hear from him the moment when he let her stay and sleep in his den and that was everything which she needed before she slightly moved herself a bit upwards and felt his member near his tail invading her to which she and Glowscale both growled in pleasure, she was enjoying the feeling of him inside of her which completed her and he the warm feeling inside of her which was heaven for both of them. In a slow motion Glowscale pulled himself out of her and entered her right after that again, continuing their mating under the moonlight, until they could both feel that they can't take it anymore.

"Mark me as yours, and yours alone.", she said while smiling which was enough for him before Glowscale cried out one last time before he released his hot seed inside of her which overfilled her with a warm feeling. He fell exhausted on top of her while panting heavily and looked at her. Blackclaw licked the tip of his snout before he yawned deeply and nuzzled her slightly while whispering something into her ear before he fell asleep, both wrapped together and embracing each other.

Blackclaw still watched him for some minutes, peacefully sleeping while even smiling with his warmth on top of her. Now she would spend the rest of her life with him without ever feeling alone again and he would be always her's. She wrapped her head around his as best as she could, her flappers brushing against his before she nuzzled him one last time on his snout before she fell asleep too, with the moonlight shining upon them.

XxxxxX

Darren quickly jumped behind a rock, dodging another paralizing shockwave of the Lagiacrus. Luckily he managed to move his body in time again before anything worse could happen but now he had to face this beast without a weapon. Great, just great. For such situations he was always grateful when Ben was huntig with him. But which he found odd was that the Lagiacrus only used paralizing attacks, nothing compared to what it could actually do. And he's speakig out of experience. Still, this wasn't really helping him.

He picked up a small stone from the ground and threw it against the Lagiacrus's head, to which it narrowed its eyes and roared while he had to cover his ears. He shouldn't have done that.

 **And that's it. It took all of my willpower to write this chapter and I often figured how to write this as best as I could, I had no experience and this is the first time I'm writing such things which is why I took my time and why it took me a bit longer to update.**

 **Anyway hope you enjoyed, leave your opinion in a review if you want and I'll see you in the next chapter.**

 **Have a nice day!**


	11. Moonlight dance (clean)

**And this is the clean version of this chapter. I've uploaded this quite late now after I finished the original version of the chapter but better now than never.**

Chapter 10: Moonlight dance

Ben slightly opened his eyes, still sleepy but content. He didn't know how much time has passed since he fell asleep with Blackclaw beside him but it was still in the night. He moved his tail a bit only to notice that beside him was… nothing? Suddenly his eyes shot open and he looked around but quickly calmed down again when he saw Blackclaw standing a few meters in front of him, looking at the sky. He slowly stood up and approached her.

"You're already awake?", he asked calmly. Blackclaw didn't answer for a moment and didn't turn around but instead continued to look at the sky. Ben was slightly confused before she suddenly turned her head a bit around and looked slightly at the ground before she spoke up.

"Glowscale… would you mind to come with me for a moment?", she asked quietly but in a nervous tone. This question came out of nowhere for him, he was still worried about her injuries.

"Maybe your wounds aren't hea-", he was quickly cut off by her.

"I'm fine… please.", she pleaded and now looked at him with a desperate expression and gleaming eyes. After a moment he nodded and Blackclaw smiled before she walked deeper into the little forest and mentioned him to follow her. After some minutes they both came to a small clearing where the moonlight shone in, with a little lake in the middle of it. Blackclaw walked towards the lake and stopped in front of it and looked at the night sky again while Ben was curiously watching her. The moonlight made her scales and skin glimmer in many colours, together with her fur it looked beautiful… he couldn't do otherwise than to admire it. He walked beside her before he looked at the night sky too.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? I always loved to come here.", she said in a calm and sweet voice while smiling slightly. Ben already wondered how she knew the way to this place. He was glad to see her happy but he was surprised when Blackclaw produced a bubble with her claw and touched the water with it, and within some seconds the whole little lake became a bubble bath, bubbles floating everywhere above it which made it even more beautiful.

But which gone unnoticed by Ben was that Blackclaw smirked to herself.

She has often imagined this situation to happen and even dreamt about it since Glowscale saved her. She grew fond of him and the little den which she called home for the last few months, and her admiration for him has grown intensely during this time. He was different… different than any other male she has encountered before. Kind, caring, gentle…

she longed for him for a long time now. And he will be her's from this night on.

"And now I don't feel lonely here anymore. I have you.", she said and smiled at him. This touched him deeply and his expression wasn't hiding it. She walked into the middle of the little lake and turned around.

"Would you mind to come in too?", she asked innocently and Ben just did so and walked into the little bubble bath, unaware of her intentions.

"So this is your favourite place?", he asked while he stopped in front of her, looking curiously which she found cute.

"Yes, I always came here when I could. It's been my favourite place to sleep and relax but now... I'm not so sure anymore…", she said quietly so only he could understand her but this only confused him.

"Why not?", he asked before she looked him directly in the eyes with a half lidded gaze.

"My favourite place is always to be with you. And to have you...", she whispered. Ben's eyes widened in pure shock at this but he didn't even had the chance to say something.

Blackclaw suddenly jumped gracefully through the air and slashed with one quick move her tail at the bubble water and destroyed the bubbles with a water laser which made the air around her glimmer, together with the moonlight that shone upon her it was a sight which Ben couldn't describe with words. She used her tail to make a second jump through the air which made her look like she was never touching the ground. Ben didn't dared to say something and neither to take away his eyes from her, he completely forgot every worry he had and just watched her dancing around him.

He didn't even noticed it when she suddenly interrupted her graceful movements and threw them both with one quick move into the middle of the little lake with her on top of him. She wrapped her tail around his and pulled herself closer to him, her snout only inches away from his. He couldn't get out of this situation anymore even if he wanted to and neither would she let him go. At least not before he would be hers.

"I want you. I don't want anything else more than you. I want to spend every night with you, do everything with you, and never be without you. As your mate, and your only one…", she whispered slowly so Ben would take in every meaning of her confession.

But he couldn't bring out a word and just stared at her with utter disbelief. He thought… something like this wasn't possible. Something which he could only imagine. He always held a distance between them and never got to close to her, but he always felt content when she was around and was always sad when she was sad. He couldn't bear to see her unhappy and always did everything to make her feel happy again but this was something he could have never be prepared for...

She wanted him. She actually… wanted him. But not as a friend. But for something which he thought it would be impossible to happen. Well but also because he never thought that a monster can be so… attractive? But she was the most beautiful creature on earth for him and not just a monster.

Blackclaw waited for a moment for him to respond but decided to act instead and connected their snouts before he could do anything, and she wouldn't let him go until he would be her's.

XxxxxX

Darren quickly jumped behind a rock, dodging another paralyzing shock wave of the Lagiacrus. Luckily he managed to move his body in time again before anything worse could happen but now he had to face this beast without a weapon. Great, just great. For such situations he was always grateful when Ben was hunting with him. But which he found odd was that the Lagiacrus only used paralyzing attacks, nothing compared to what it could actually do. And he's speaking out of experience. Still, this wasn't really helping him.

He picked up a small stone from the ground and threw it against the Lagiacrus head, to which it narrowed its eyes and roared while he had to cover his ears. He shouldn't have done that.

 **And that's it. Hope you enjoyed.**

 **Have a nice day!**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 11

"What do we know about the Mizutsune?", the guild master calmly asked an assistant in the guild lobby.

"Their species is currently in mating season, which means they are aggressive towards everything they encounter. Also they are in mating season for some weeks in every year. Probably the reason why our guild hunters were almost torn into shreds, sir.", the assistant calmly replied while looking into his book.

"Anything else? Maybe how we can easily get rid of them?", the guild master asked with a hopeful tone.

"Only to finish them in combat, as always. Or you could just ignore them and close this area for hunters, although I suppose they won't go away so soon, they're living many years longer than humans do and they will probably stay the next months in the misty peaks to raise their hatchlings.", the assistant replied back and looked up.

"I'm not going to ignore this, we have already lost a hunter and almost a whole group to those beasts.", the guild master said with slight anger, although he was surprised that the guild hunters managed to return. They looked like they could die at any moment, not that he would complain of course. Suddenly the assistant's eyes widened, as if he remembered something important.

"Speaking of that, I think you already know that another hunter disappeared?", he asked and the guild master immediately looked back at the assistant.

"What? Who was it this time and why has nobody told me this?", the guild master said with disbelief, but the assistant had a serious expression.

"A hunter named Darren, simply vanished in a collecting quest near an island, nobody knows what happened but we suppose they were attacked by something. We found another hunter dead by their broken boat, probably his companion.", the assistant said with a sad expression and looked to the ground.

"I said that he isn't allowed to go to another quest!", the guild master shouted angrily, to which the assistant shivered slightly.

"According to the quest book, there shouldn't have been a monster at all in the area, so we thought-", the assistant couldn't finish his sentence.

"I don't care what you thought! Now we have two disappeared hunters and even a new and unknown threat. Great!", the guild master hissed.

It was quiet for a moment, nobody said something and the air around the guild master was uncomfortable.

"M-maybe… we should consider to close the two areas, so nobody else is going to disappear…", the assistant muttered and immediately took a step back when the guild master looked at him with an angry look.

XxxxxX

Ben awoke for a moment, feeling like he is the most happy creature on earth. He looked at the sleeping Mizutsune beside him, which was the most important thing he had in life now, for which he would always give his life for. He just still couldn't believe it that such a beautiful and innocent creature like her was now his and the same for her. She smiled in her sleep and cuddled closer to him. Since he has encountered her, he enjoyed every moment he had and truly felt… happy. It was a whole different feeling instead of the one when he finally got a new armor when he was still human. He learned that monsters weren't just monsters to kill, they were so much more. They are beautiful creatures, every one of them precious in their own the thought that he would have hatchlings with her…

But it also remembered him of a discussion which he had with the guild master in the past. Ben had a whole new perspective of him now...

…

" _What are we supposed to do then? We can't just kill a monster together with its hatchlings!", Ben said in protest, but to no avail._

" _This Zinogre is only a threat to us and the people are expecting from us to solve that problem. It doesn't matter if a monster from thousands is dead. You should rather think about our species, Ben. The same for your friend.", the guild master calmly replied while looking out of his tent._

 _Ben and Darren were both standing behind him, not believing what they just heard._

" _This would be just brutal! There are other solutions too!", Darren replied and narrowed his eyes._

" _If you want to do this, than you can count us out of this!", Ben replied with anger but the guild master just sighed in annoyance._

 _Suddenly he turned around with a cold look that was letting both Ben and Darren take a step back in shock before he spoke up._

" _Listen well you two, there are two groups of humans, those who are willing to hunt monsters for our species and see them as their greatest enemy and those, who are seeing monsters as their 'friends'. Whatever you are thinking of monsters is none of my business, but from monster hunters, I expect them to do their work. And the same goes for you two, otherwise I would consider to look for another job.", he said with narrowed eyes and walked out of the tent, leaving the two hunters with their jaw dropped at this._

" _Killing everything for our species? Why…", Ben muttered to himself in complete disbelief to what he just heard. Is this what monsters truly are.._

…

Now Ben knew the answer. He was wrong all along. Sometimes hunters had to fight monsters for survival but what the guild master was seeing in hunters, was just evil. To kill monsters just for glory was disgusting, and he was angry to himself to have been so foolish to believe that this was true. He looked at Blackclaw again, and immediately his rage disappeared again, instead he smiled warmly at her, although she couldn't see it. He would never return to his old life and he promised to himself that he would always protect her.

He laid his head around hers and wrapped his tail around hers to which she growled out of contentment and went back to his sweet dreams again.

 **And that's it for now, hope you enjoyed the chapter. I really enjoy reading stories from others in the moment which is why I'm a bit lazy with my own stories right now.**

 **Have a wonderful day!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A Certain Triangel** : **Thanks a lot, I'll try to improve my chapters. Although since I've read your profile I have the urge to look at my ceiling from time to time…**

Chapter 13

Darren was trapped in a corner, no way to escape and the Lagiacrus in front of him, moving closer towards him. The crystals on its back were glowing blue, charged with electric energy, although it has never used it. He couldn't react in time when the Lagiacrus paralyzed him yet again and this time it moved its head closer to him. Darren had his helmet which covered his expression but still had his eyes closed. By now he would be already shivering in fear which would have been even worse when it started to sniff at his armor but he couldn't even do that, so instead he just kept his eyes closed.

…

…

"Ehm…", he slightly opened his left eye to see the Lagiacrus staring at him. Suddenly it gave him a lick on his helmet, leaving Darren confused.

It didn't made any attempt to attack him, instead it continued to sniff at his armor. After some moments it pushed its head to his chest, the electricity which was keeping Darren pinned starting to fade away like it was never there.

"Well aren't you a nice one.", Darren muttered and carefully putted his left hand on its head to which it growled. He instantly pulled away again in fear but the Lagiacrus only looked at him, seemingly confused by his actions. Instead it pushed its head under his hand again and growled slightly which didn't made Darren feel really comfortable. What is happening? Whenever he wanted to pull his hand away from its head the Lagiacrus growled only and pushed its head harder onto his chest. In fact even when he tried to move an inch the Lagiacrus wouldn't allow it and kept him in place.

'What is this for a behavior!?', Darren thought to himself, he actually wanted to pull his monster list out of his bag but he wasn't allowed to do anything at all. He didn't needed to look at his list to see that this wasn't normal. Suddenly the Lagiacrus pulled its head away from his chest which brought Darren out of his thoughts. It wrapped its tail around him before the Lagiacrus curled into a ball and putted him into the middle, its head near his neck and its tail still wrapped around him, keeping him in place before it decided to sleep a bit with Darren just laying there, not knowing what to do. And neither did he know if this was just a bad joke, this wasn't even weird anymore. Instead it was something he couldn't describe anymore. He was practically sleeping with a Lagiacrus right now!

XxxxxX

Sunlight was shining into the little clearing, making the water and the bubbles floating above it glimmer. Especially the two Monsters who were contently sleeping in the middle of the lake. Ben was the first one to awake, yawning before growling slightly, feelings of happiness still surging through him. But Blackclaw only purred slightly, not releasing her tail grip on his, instead pulling herself only closer to him as much as possible before returning to sleep again. Ben smiled warmly at her, as much as he wanted to lay there forever with her he needed to hunt something. So he nuzzled her on her snout to which she only growled slightly and wrapped even her head around his, all the while not letting go of any part of him. Ben tried to free himself from her grip but to no avail.

"Blackclaw, please I want to get up.", Ben said but she only rubbed her head against his neck while purring.

"Mmmmh, I won't let you go, you can get up later. You're too soft and warm...", she muttered half asleep before she slithered her left claw down his side, making him shiver at her touch. She would never hesitate to surrender herself to him, she was enjoying every bit of time she had right now, for her it was heaven and she wanted it to go on just like that. She could finally call the one thing she deeply wanted since he saved her as her's. And she wanted to feel every bit of it. While on the other side Ben would never complain, he wanted to eat something. And he wouldn't leave her side for one moment, he just wanted to get up and hunt some fish… but he would grant her every wish only to make her happy, and he could tell how much he meant to her, yet alone how she was holding him possessively. He wondered what would happen if she would awake only one morning without him by her side. But he mentally slapped himself for that thought and felt ashamed. He would never leave her side.

XxxxxX

"And what are we looking for?", a hunter with a simple metal armor asked with his friend standing beside him.

"A… stone. We think it is located in the Tundra region, a detailed picture is in your quest list. You don't need to know anything else.", the guild master said, his look unreadable as always.

"But why are _we_ supposed to look for that… stone? Surely there are others-"

"No, it is more important to find that stone than you may think. If you really want to know why, I'm sure you want to find your friend Ben again, don't you? You only have to know that this stone could be the thing we need to find him. But be careful, we have located a big monster in this area too. And now go.", the guild master said as he walked away, nothing more had to be said. It was more than enough for them both to know, there was a way to find their friend again!

"You heard that? We could bring Ben back again!", one of them said while the silent one only nodded.

"... You know, you could at least say one word of happiness.", the hunter said but the other one was just as silent as ever and already walked out of the main lobby.

"H-hey! Wait!", the other hunter said and quickly followed him.

XxxxxX

It wasn't long until they both reached the quest area, the snow covered Tundra. Unbearable without a hot drink and not the most famous region which a hunter would prefer. But nothing which would stop the two hunters who would do anything to find their hunting companion and friend again to unite their hunting group again. Although they both haven't heard from Darren for a while now.

"Let's see what's in here…", one of them said while opening the blue box, taking out two hot drinks and a pickaxe while the silent hunter was already scouting the area a bit before he noticed a small old man who was maybe half of his own size. Maybe even smaller…

"What's wrong? Wait, who's this guy. Alright, let me talk to him you can take the rest inside of the box.", the other hunter said and walked towards the little old man while the silent one only nodded. The man noticed the hunter and spoke up with an old and rather annoying voice.

"Greetings! Wouldn't have expected to see a hunter here. During a quest I guess, maybe this here could help you.", the old little man said and pulled a shock trap out of his rather large backpack, giving it to the hunter.

"Ehm… thanks, I guess?", the hunter said but the old man just shook his head.

"Don't mention it, just see that you're surviving as long as you can.", the old little man said before walking away while the silent hunter was standing beside the other hunter, the blue box now empty.

"Ehm… let's just go.", the hunter said and the silent one nodded before they both went to the next area.

"The guild master didn't even said where exactly this stone is. Should we just use our pickaxe against every special rock we find and hope that this stone is in there?", the hunter muttered while the silent one pulled out the quest list with a picture from the stone on it. A stone with the size of a human hand with a rather strange colour, it was kind of purple and had some markings on it. The other hunter stepped beside him and looked at the picture.

"How did the guild even found out that this stone is supposed to be here. This stone is looking strange.", he said while the silent one only nodded. The other hunter only sighed, the fact that he was almost never talking wasn't really helping at all.

"Well let's just go into the next cave we find.", he said and they both went into the next area.

…

It wasn't long until they both found a large cave with a small group of Baggis walking around. But they were quickly dealt with and soon they both were searching for every stone which looked kinda special and used their pickaxe. They found so many materials until they couldn't carry everything anymore but from the main target was still no sign for hours. Unlike all the other quests, this one didn't had a time limit, probably because of its importance. But which went unnoticed by the two of them was the big shadow which entered the cave, its owner not walking on the ground tough, moving closer towards its two victims.

"Ehm, is it already dark outside?", one of them said while the silent one was confused by this. The sun wasn't making the area outside of the cave warm but it was still daytime so-

Suddenly the hunter screamed which was loudly echoing in the cave, the silent hunter immediately turning around, the sight in front of him almost shocking him to death.

His friend was completely covered by the 'mouth' of a Gigginox, keeping him pinned on the ground while it shot poison at him, taking the breath from him away. The silent hunter immediately rushed forward and pulled out his two metal swords and slashed at the purple eyes of the Gigginox, making it scream loudly in pain but letting go of his friend. He didn't moved a just lay on the ground, poison covered all over him. Now the silent hunter was angry, how dares this disgusting thing to do that to his friend! And disgusting wasn't even the right word to describe this monster. It had two heads, one on the place where most people would think where it is and one where most people would think was supposed to be its ass, while nobody knows which one of them is its real head and not something else or if it has just got two heads instead of one. Also its skin was feeling like the most disgusting thing you could possibly think of with two purple organs on its underside, producing most of the poison which it is using. It could even change the colour from gray to black if it is angry, making some of its body parts harder than before. All in all just disgusting. The silent hunter acted quickly and pulled some healing potions out of his bag and just used them on his friend so that at least the poison won't do anything bad anymore because now he couldn't help his friend any further right now. The Gigginox quickly recovered, its colour had already changed into a black colour, signaling that it was angry now but it wasn't the only one.

The silent hunter charged at the monster again but pulled one of his swords back, keeping the other one in his left hand. The Gigginox quickly jumped to the ceiling of the cave, somehow it could walk and hold itself on the ceiling. But that was exactly what he had expected, he pulled a little bomb out of his bag with his free hand and placed it under the shadow of the Gigginox. It flew upwards and hit the Gigginox directly at its head with an explosion which brought it back to the ground with its weak and red coloured underside now exposed. It had troubles to get up which was enough time for the hunter to jump in the air before the sword in his left hand went straight through the middle of the Gigginox, making it stop its movements completely for a moment before it screamed one last time which hurt in the hunter's ears before its body completely stopped moving. He wouldn't mind at all if those things would just stop to exist. He quickly ran back to his friend who was slowly starting to recover, he received no wounds but the poison was the thing which was dangerous but thanks to his friend he didn't had to think about that anymore but the memories of what just happened will probably haunt him forever now.

"Hey, look at that. The stone!", the silent hunter suddenly said which surprisingly didn't earned any shocked reaction from his friend.

"That...was...horrible.", he muttered to himself, too troubled to even realize that his friend actually said something. The silent hunter walked towards the corpse of the Gigginox, the strange purple stone lay near of its mouth or whatever it was. It must have eaten it…

He didn't really wanted to touch the stone but quickly putted it into his bag before he would just let it there out of disgust. He looked at his friend again, who was still staring at the ground in a trance.

Well at least they have what they wanted.

 **And that's it. Hope you enjoyed.**

 **Have a nice day!**


	14. Chapter 14

**And** **here's the next chapter. I'm eager to write about it with the new Monster hunter which is about to come out, it is going into the right direction with humans and monsters uniting. Can't wait for it, would like to see what you think about it.**

 **Feed The Bath of Blood: Thanks! I guess… I hope I don't mess anything up in later chapters.**

Chapter 14

Ben looked at the dead Aptonoth he had hunted for Blackclaw, they both have returned to their den before Ben insisted that he would hunt for her. He smiled to himself, he was proud of himself that he could convince her because she wasn't fond of that idea at all. But in the end she gave in because she is more tired than usual, Ben was pretty sure that it is because of their bonding. And she also wants to cuddle with him more than he is used to…

He would never mind though, he was glad with every second he could spend with her, or better… his mate. He couldn't do otherwise but smile with joy at this thought before Ben produced a small amount of foam in his purple fur and covered the underside of the dead Aptonoth so that he could carry it with ease back to their den. But he also had a bad feeling, he didn't know why but he couldn't shake the feeling off that something was wrong. It just suddenly came and now it wouldn't let go of him, but why… he shook his head and just continued his way towards his destination. This wouldn't just ruin the beautiful feeling he had a moment ago.

Some moments later he arrived at the familiar entrance of the den and carried the Aptonoth inside. To make the den more comfortable for them both Blackclaw and Ben covered many parts of the den with foam which was making the ground more comfortable to sleep on and some bubbles are glimmering and floating in the air. There is also a little lake which is perfect for them since Mizutsune prefer the more wet regions. Ben noticed that when he didn't had any contact with water one day or didn't used his foam, he was feeling like his scales and skin would be too warm and unbearable, and they wouldn't glimmer in many colours anymore. Also his purple fur would turn really hard if he doesn't use his foam to keep it wet and glimmering. And the Misty peaks is the perfect example for a perfect surrounding for a Mizutsune. But Ben became really used to his new body, and he really loved it… for him Mizutsune are the most beautiful Monsters on earth and to be one of them himself was a feeling he couldn't describe. But he was blessed to have Blackclaw as his… he couldn't say it in his mind often enough.

Blackclaw immediately looked up and smiled warmly at him with a half lidded gaze when she saw him. Ben laid the Aptonoth gently in front of her before he moved to her left side and laid down beside her, Blackclaw's gaze never leaving him. She didn't hesitate to rub her head softly against his as a greeting which Ben happily returned while she wrapped her tail around his, the flappers on their heads brushing against each others.

"I've already eaten a bit before, don't worry.", Ben said but Blackclaw only looked at him with a slightly sad look which had a great effect on him too. And he knew why, she seemed to like eating and hunting together with him a lot, not to eat alone. But he is sure that she needs it more than he does.

"At least let me share it with you.", Blackclaw said while slowly licking his snout lovingly, and he would never want to make her feel sad so he agreed. But he was also a bit surprised, as far as he knows Monsters are only sharing their food very rarely even if they have a mate, except when they are feeding their hatchlings…

He nuzzled her lovingly in return before they ate their food together.

XxxxxX

"Good, you have the stone. You two have done well, now please

go. I need some time to look a bit closer at it.", the Guildmaster simply said before he turned all of his attention towards the purple stone which was now in his possession, the two hunters in front of him slightly confused.

"But… couldn't we at least know how to save our friend now? I mean

you said that this stone is everything we would need…", one of them muttered while the silent hunter nodded in agreement.

"Yes I did. And in order to do that, you should go out and do something useful instead of annoying me. I need some time.", the Guildmaster said without even looking at them. The two hunters only looked at each other in frustration but decided to just leave him alone instead of angering him even more. When they left the tent of the Guild Master, one of them couldn't do otherwise than to talk about his thoughts.

"He could at least let us know more about it instead of leaving us in the dark! What is he even planning with a simple stone, such a waste of

time while Ben is still out there somewhere…", the hunter said, the silent one deep in thought but still listened to him and nodded.

"...you know, you've talked before and you could do it again if you don't mind.", the hunter said but was met with silence since the silent one was already too deep in his own thoughts to which the other one only sighed.

"Never mind."

XxxxxX

Darren was still awake and totally confused with the world. How did he manage to get himself into this situation. The only thing he knew was that he had to get out of here, which proved to be a bit hard with the Lagiacrus wrapped around him, asleep. But the entrance to the cave wasn't far away… nothing would happen if he doesn't try anything. He would have already faced his death if the Lagiacrus wouldn't have had other things in its mind so it doesn't matter anyway. He slowly touched the left front leg of the Lagiacrus which was firmly keeping him in place and carefully pushed it a bit away from him. The Lagiacrus was still asleep and didn't moved so he gathered a bit more courage and slowly stood up without accidentally touching anything from the Lagiacrus. Its tail was slightly moving to the left and right on the ground, which he found a bit cute to look at… he shook his head and focused again before he took little steps towards the exit of the cave. When he had a little distance between himself and the Lagiacrus he took greater steps, the exit now only a few meters away…

When suddenly a tail moved into his away, pushing him a bit back. He turned around only to be met by the gaze of the Lagiacrus, looking into his eyes. Well at least he had tried, the will was there...

 **And that's it, hope you enjoyed.**

 **Have a wonderful day!**


	15. Chapter 15

**I would have updated this sooner actually if I wouldn't have had to buy a new battery for my mobile. I really managed to use it so hard that it literally exploded. And I mean it, it didn't fit into the backside of my mobile anymore once I took it out because it had the size of at least two batteries. It took a while until I got a new one but that was until I noticed that my charging cable was broken as well. :/ Now it should be alright again… at least I hope so. But I will certainly take more care now...**

 **Killed streaks: Since the original idea came from your story this is a great Achievement for me. :)**

 **A Certain Triangle: Party is always good**

 **Feed the bath of blood: My English Knowledge isn't the best but at least I can hide it pretty well :)**

Chapter 15

"You called us again?", the Hunter with the silent one beside him said to the Guildmaster standing in front of them, the strange stone in his hands.

"Yes, I've done a lot of Research. It seems this stone is reacting to electricity, and it is your job to get the energy the stone needs. This time I'll leave the stone in your care, I have no doubts you two will prevail. If this is a success, you two are going to go out as rich

men. Not to mention you'll get your friend back.", the Guildmaster said with a smirk.

"And what is the target?", the hunter said, although the look of the Guildmaster wasn't making him comfortable at all…

"An Astalos. We have located one on the Deserted Island. A perfect target to charge up the stone. But don't kill it, we need this Monster alive. We're going to set up a special trap near your position in which you have to get it inside, the rest is going to be our job.", the Guildmaster spoke in a confident tone before handing the strange purple stone to the Hunter. He and the silent one looked at it before back at the Guildmaster who continued to speak.

"Take the things you need and get ready as soon as possible. The Guild is counting on you two.", he said before turning to leave but the silent Hunter suddenly spoke up.

"By the way Sir, why are there so many other Hunters standing outside and preparing? Are they part of this?", he asked in a slight disease. Since they both made their way towards the Guildmaster's tent, there were many Hunters preparing their weapons and armour, some of them would give them an unreadable look whenever they thought the two Hunters weren't looking.

"Yes, I need them for the second phase, once you get the Astalos into the trap. Don't worry about them, most of them will only be there for… security.", the Guildmaster replied before he left the tent.

XxxxxX

Both Hunters left the Guild Lobby some moments later, prepared for what was about to come. A ship near the Lobby brought them towards their destination, the Deserted Island. A perfect home for many Monsters from all kinds with a lot of green areas, combined with many little mountains and a sea.

"I've never seen an Astalos before, did you?", one of them suddenly broke the silence, bringing the silent Hunter out of his thoughts.

"No, but Ben would have certainly done this quest here with ease…", he replied. But the other Hunter didn't really care about the Response and instead smirked to himself. He was getting his companion to talk more, and that was good…

"You know", the silent one suddenly continued, " I wish the four of us could finally be one group again… I miss hunting with all of us

together… without Ben and Darren this just isn't the same anymore…", the silent Hunter muttered depressed, deeply shocking his friend with that.

"Don't say that! Remember, as soon as we're finished, we can find Ben again! And I'm sure Darren has something important to do right now. We're going to be one group again more quickly than you could wish.", his friend said with a smile and looked at the silent one.

"You really think so?", the silent Hunter muttered to which his friend nodded.

"I know it."

XxxxxX

They both arrived at the Island a good half an hour later, both ready to set off. The silent Hunter smiled behind his metal mask, the conversation he had with his friend truly made him happy and his friend could very well sense that which made him smile too. They both had a strong metal armor which many soldiers of the guild are wearing, but instead of the normal heavy metal Helmet the silent hunter had a metal mask on and a black piece of cloth covering the unprotected back of his head, a gun serving as his weapon while his friend was also having the same heavy metal armor but instead of a mask he only had a black piece of cloth covering his mouth and nose together with a heavy gun serving as his weapon.

"Alright let's do this.", the Hunter said to which they both made their way towards the next area which led out of their camp which was already set up. The next area had a little waterfall on the left side where also another way led deeper into the Island. Some Aptonoth were eating some grass here, but there were also some mushrooms and herbs here.

"Those Aptonoth are looking disturbed.", the silent Hunter said when one of the Aptonoth looked around the area while making uneasy noises.

"They can sense when something bigger is near them…", his friend replied and looked towards the two ways which led into other areas of the Island. The Hunter took out his map and looked at it for a moment.

"The way on the right side would lead us towards the sea, let's check it out.", he said and they both ran into the next area.

Once they arrived, they were only greeted by the sight of some Jaggis running around. At least until suddenly a roar came from above the Jaggi's. The Hunters looked up and saw their target sitting on top of a hill just above where the Jaggis were, looking down at them with its electricity charged. With one movement it crashed down towards the Jaggis and smacked its charged claws against them. The Hunters shared a look for a moment while the Astalos was eating the Jaggi's until it noticed the two Hunters standing at the entrance of the area. It roared while electricity flew through its head, wings and tail, the horn on its head looking like an axe charged with the green electricity.

"I'm surely not planning to steal its food.", one of them muttered in slight fear.

"And Ben hunted this often enough to get an armour?", the silent one muttered, his fear being shown more than by his friend, and this only through the tone of his shivering voice. The other Hunter pulled the purple stone out of his bag, it was slightly glowing in a purple light.

"I don't care what he would say, run!", his friend yelled while putting the stone back into his bag and they both ran out of the area before the Astalos could hit them with its axe-like horn. They both panted for a moment until suddenly the Astalos even broke its way through towards them instead of flying. They ran again, this time towards the other area which would lead deeper into the Island, the silent Hunter had to dodge an incoming strike of the Astalos wing which killed one of the Aptonoth who wasn't fast enough to get away instead. They both entered the next area, both exhausted.

"The trap should be just one area away, let's go!", the other Hunter said while panting. They could hear the Astalos roaring behind them and they began to run again. A cave entrance at the end of the area was their target, after that the rest would be a piece of cake. The Astalos appeared behind them, flying towards them with electricity charged. They had to jump to the side to avoid the attack, the Astalos now in front of them, covering their way towards the cave. It roared again, this time the Hunters taking out their weapons, loading their guns. But the Astalos didn't move to their surprise instead looking to the sky when suddenly another roar echoed through the area. The two Hunters looked in horror towards the sky where suddenly a Rathian landed next to the Astalos, stretching its wings.

"What?", the silent one muttered in shock.

"Nobody told us about that!", the other Hunter complained and targeted the Astalos with his gun, loaded with fire bullets and ready to fire. The silent Hunter was still too shocked and couldn't decide which Monster he should be targeting, switching between the newly appeared Rathian and the Astalos, shivering more than before. But what they couldn't have expected was when the Astalos just rubbed its head against the green Rathian, letting the two Hunters their jaws drop. The Rathian looked at the Astalos for a moment before returning its stare at the two Hunters, growling at them. The Astalos did the same, charging its electricity again. The two Hunters were frozen in place but the Rathian was the first one to make a move and roared before firing a fireball at them. They both jumped to the side, the silent one to the left to dodge the attack before firing his first shots at the Rathian, its fireball from before hitting the ground behind them. It growled out of annoyance, the bullets hitting her left wing. The other Hunter was met with the Horn of the Astalos instead, hitting him with full force and sending him flying before crashing against a stone wall, the electricity of the attack still surging through his body. He groaned in pain and struggled to get up, still trying to aim at the Astalos but his arms shivered like hell. He changed his single shots into quick fire and just fired everything he had in front of him, hoping to hit at least something. He hit several trees and stones in the Background without a care, also hitting the Astalos at some places until he hadn't got any shots for quick fire left.

He actually thought he had done well in damaging the Astalos but it just charged its tail and fired electricity through the ground and towards him, letting him cry out in pain, the electricity now taking its full effect and effectively paralyzing him. The silent Hunter saw this, letting him slightly panic now that he had the two Monsters against him. He aimed at the Astalos and fired several shots at it, gaining the attention of it so it wouldn't focus on his friend before he noticed out of the corner of his eye another fireball flying towards him, not letting him time to dodge. He turned his gun around and tried to use it as a shield, but the impact still pushing him a bit back. The Rathian took of into the air and flew towards him, the silent Hunter shooting more bullets at its left wing before the Rathian used her the tip of her tail to try to hit him with poison but he rolled to the side in time. At least until the Astalos punched its left claws on its wing into his stomach and sending him against the next tree. Both Monsters roared again, both Hunters not having much options. The Astalos prepared to give the silent Hunter a last strike but the electricity on his friend lost its effect again thanks to his friend, the Hunter slowly getting up again, seeing the two Monsters charging at his friend.

"I'll cover you, get to the cave!", he shouted and fired his remaining shots at the two Monsters, the silent Hunter watching him for a moment in shock before throwing his gun away and ran towards the cave, ignoring the pain he had everywhere while his friend was getting several punches from the Astalos, screaming in pain. A tear ran down his cheek but the silent Hunter knew he shouldn't stop and just ran for it, reaching the entrance and passing it, the sight in front of hims giving him hope. A large trap was set up in the middle with several Hunters standing there with their guns ready and a ship at the end of the cave where a sea was leading out of the Island again. But this was interrupted when he felt a fireball hitting him in the back, sending him flying against the ground. He could only hear guns fire and a roar before his vision became black… he could hear a tiny voice in the back of his mind, confusing him at first, but it brought his senses back before he slowly opened his eyes again, his vision still blurry but now he could hear it clearly.

"Come on! Get up, get up! We're almost there!", he heard his friend saying, helping him to get up while laying his left arm around his friend's neck to give him support, making their way towards the trap while the other Hunters were stopping the two Monsters at the entrance of the Cave. The silent Hunter couldn't express his relief that his friend was still alive, they both could see the Guildmaster at the end of the trap, running towards them, with a gun in his left hand, interrupting his fire at the two Monsters and stopped before the two Hunters. They have made it...

"Do you still have the stone?", he asked while looking at both of them.

"We have it, sir.", the Hunter said to which the Guildmaster smiled before firing a shot into the silent one's stomach, letting him fall to the ground.

"What!?", his friend shouted before the Guildmaster shot another bullet into the other Hunter before he could point his gun at him, falling to the ground beside the silent Hunter.

"We've managed to get the Astalos into the trap, what should we do with this Rathian?", a Hunter who approached from behind asked, looking with disgust at the two dead Hunters on the ground.

"Kill it. And burn those two.", the Guildmaster simply ordered to which the other Hunter smirked and walked away to get some wood. The Guildmaster searched in the bags of the silent one's friend before he found the purple stone with a smirk. He walked towards the trap where the Astalos had been putted into sleep while the Hunter from before returned and laid some wood on the ground before throwing the two dead Hunters onto it, holding a torch in his other hand. He looked at them for a last moment before throwing the torch into the wood.

XxxxxX

Ben looked outside of the den, Blackclaw became more tired and unable to move than ever and he was right, she would have an egg.

He only knew from many Monsters that the males would have to get food and protect the den when the female needed time to rest and lay the egg. And that was what he did, but Blackclaw hated it not to be able to go with him, and she hated every second he wasn't there with her which pulled him down too, and this was also why she wanted to cuddle every possible moment with him once he was with her. And especially once it was night time, which was right now. He was curled around her, nuzzling her neck to which she purred, pulling her head closer to his. She rubbed her head against his one last time before she yawned and quickly fell asleep, her head laying on the soft purple fur of his chest, purring in contentment. Ben smiled warmly at her but couldn't do otherwise than look out of the den and into the distance again. He had still this bad feeling and he didn't know what it meant…

He suddenly felt Blackclaw wrapping her forelegs and tail tighter around him, muttering his name in her sleep. He lay his head against hers again and forgot about his worries, instead curling himself closer around her to which she relaxed, smiling in her sleep. Ben gave her one last lick on her snout before he joined her into sleep.

XxxxxX

The stone was shining in a bright purple light, the Guildmaster could feel the energy it was holding. How that even worked was still something he would never understand but he only had one last thing to do, his ship was full with Hunters who are ready for the last part of his plan, sailing towards the Misty peaks. Being the Guildmaster certainly gave him an Advantage, telling most people to do his will isn't really hard. He would use that for much greater things… but first things first. There was a certain… Monster… he still had on his list.

 **And that's it for now. If nothing else in my mobile is going to explode it won't take a month for me again to upload. I had already finished the chapter actually until my battery decided that it didn't wanted anymore… so I only had to add some things.**

 **Have a wonderful day.**


	16. Chapter 16

**A Certain Triangel: Scheming? No...**

 **louiseleon07: The scene did came from Mw2. Actually I only have Monster Hunter references hidden in the story but this one was fitting.**

 **Metbert2: Thanks! One of the Quests which have interested me the most while playing Generations. Until I had to go out as the Hunter and end this Pairing only because the Client had a Problem with this. And it had to be a key Quest :/**

 **Chapter 16**

Darren looked outside of the cave and onto the sea outside, the Lagiacrus not keeping him at its side right now but it was somewhere near him, he didn't had to look around to know that. And he long gave up to try anything. He wondered if it could understand him…

Suddenly he saw something in the distance which was on the sea, catching his interest. But he couldn't really make out what it is…

"A ship?", Darren muttered, couldn't believing his luck. He didn't know at all where he was but that was the best thing which happened for him since he ended up here. Not that he didn't liked the Monster near him which could have killed him a thousand times already… but how should he reach this ship? His excitement came to an end when he suddenly noticed that he couldn't do anything at all. That was when he heard a low growl from behind him and felt a nudge on his back. He couldn't need that right now. The Lagiacrus stepped in front of him and nudged him on his chest this time, growling softly again.

"What do you even want? It's not like you could understand me

anyway…", he muttered more to himself but the Lagiacrus turned around so that its left side was facing Darren, lowering itself slightly while looking at him. Its behavior was something Darren would never understand so he didn't think of it at first until an idea suddenly came into his head, making him look at the Lagiacrus again with wide eyes.

"Wait that's perfect! If you could take me there-", another growl came from the Lagiacrus and it stepped a bit closer to him before repeating the same gesture from before, seemingly impatient. Darren just went ahead and climbed onto its neck, the Lagiacrus turning its head around for a Moment, looking at him before turning towards the exit of the cave and jumped into the water, although it kept itself on the surface of the water so its companion wouldn't have to die because of water. Darren was at a loss, this Monster is strange, the Lagiacrus crystals on its back weren't charged at all and the spot on its neck on which he was sitting was warmer than the rest of its body right now. He didn't even had to do anything the Lagiacrus was already following the ship in the distance, and Darren was simply in awe at the Monster's intelligence.

He wondered what had happened in the Guild while he wasn't there…

XxxxxX

"We're here.", a Hunter said, pointing at the Misty peaks in front of them, the Guildmaster looking at a map with a certain area marked on it while the Hunters were preparing themselves for their next hunt and to leave the ship, all of them wearing the Armor they wanted but everyone of them having the Guild's Symbol on it. One Hunter was staying at the side of the ship, looking at his Monster list. He was excited to no end to have a hunt with the Guild Master and he wanted to be prepared for it. He looked through the pages of his little book before stopping at a picture with a fox-like Monster on it.

"Mizutsune, living in wet areas and are for the most time quite peaceful, usually not caring about Hunters and rarely attacking them without a reason… who has been writing this? The Guildmaster said that they are aggressive.", he muttered before throwing the book into the Water. A Hunter beside him just silently huffed at that comment, all of this felt odd for him. So many Hunters just for this, and the Guild Master wouldn't answer any questions except giving simple replies. He couldn't believe that they've killed two of their own Hunters, the Guild Master said they were Traitors… this wasn't right and what does he even mean with 'Traitors'? But many Hunters were too blind to see that. The Hunter shook his head and looked at his companions preparing themselves, was he any better? He didn't do anything even though he knew that others were thinking exactly like him...

"Alright, attention! We're here for only one reason, I have lost many good Hunters here who have become victims of those two Devils which are living here. So our Job is it to find them and do what is right.", the Guild Master announced to which some of the Hunters cheered while others were just silent, some of them giving uncertain looks among themselves before the Hunters left the ship, the Guild Master looking at the stone with a smirk.

"So far so good.", he muttered with ease and putted the stone into his bag.

XxxxxxX

Blackclaw looked at Glowscale who was still asleep and curled around her. She felt like she had Stones in her stomach and moving was the most painful thing she could think of right now. She never had that before but she was the happiest Mizutsune alive to have it with Glowscale. She could just watch him sleeping so peacefully for forever… but instead she nuzzled her snout against his to which he purred and shifted his Tail slightly which she found cute. But that still wasn't what she wanted and repeated her actions before Glowscale pulled himself closer to her and laid his head into her chest fur before purring softly again in contentment.

"It is nice to see that you like my fur so much.", Blackclaw said with a smirk on her snout while nuzzling his head. It caught Glowscale's interest and he gave a smile in return before he opened his eyes slightly to look into her's.

"I can't help it that it is so warm and comfortable, it must be your fault then.", he muttered still half asleep to which Blackclaw only licked him on his nose before he yawned and got up, having to force himself to pull his head away from her fur although Blackclaw was still nuzzling him lovingly. But Glowscale perked his head up suddenly, looking out of the den.

"Is something wrong?", Blackclaw asked him worriedly before Glowscale narrowed his eyes slightly.

"I don't know, I can feel something… coming.", Ben was having this feeling again, stronger than he had ever felt it and his worries became part of Blackclaw too. But Ben knew it wasn't good, he just knew that it wasn't another Monster. He knew that feeling...


	17. Epilogue

**Epilogue:**

Ben could hear several Sounds coming from the distance, too many to make them out but he knew what it was. He only had one thought which burned itself into his mind. He turned his head around to face Blackclaw, looking at her with a loving gaze but also holding a serious expression.

"Please, whatever happens, I'll protect you.", he muttered softly before he turned to face the end of the den again, the sight in the distance telling him everything he needed to know. An Army of Hunters with one single Person in front of them, clothed in heavy metal Armor with the red Guild symbol and a heavy Axe on his back, having only one Destination. The leader of them entered the den and smirked, looking face to face at the Monster in front of him with the stone tightly grasped in his left Hand.

"Been awhile, hasn't it? That I've had to do so much to get here for you… you've changed.", he said with a smirk yet cold expression. Ben growled in Anger, never leaving the Guild Master with his hateful look. How could he possibly know?

"Spare me with that. It is hard enough to look at you, that I have to see what you have become. How you've gotten yourself into that is something I'll never understand.", his smirk changed into an emotionless stare while he took a step forward to which Ben got into a fighting Position, ready to do everything to protect Blackclaw.

"As I see you have found yourself someone you can love… a Monster. Sweet, if only I could say the same from you. If I remember correctly then I have a whole other Image from you in my mind.", he said before Blackclaw growled with hatred at him. She didn't know what this disgusting human wanted but why did he talk to her mate? Ben continued to glare at him, not moving one bit.

"I think it is time that you get out of this disgusting body to show your real self to the world again.", Ben's eyes widened, couldn't believing what he had said was his greatest fear. This wasn't possible. The Guild Master held out the stone in his Hand before it suddenly began to glow in a purple light. It intensified while purple energy was surging towards Ben, making him cry out in pain before the light surrounded him completely. Blackclaw immediately reached out for him and ignored the pain but her claw was met with a painful electric power which surged through her and made her stumble backwards.

Suddenly the Hunters from outside entered the den, not believing the sight in front of them.

"Sir, what is that!?", one of them asked in shock but he didn't reply as the energy surged through the whole den to which the Hunters had to cover their eyes before the light died down again, revealing the Hunter who has been gone for so long, still wearing his armor. The Hunters gasped, some of them not trusting their eyes to see the Hunter they've been searching so desperately, especially one of the Guild Hunters who immediately recognized him.

"Ben…?", he muttered while taking a step closer. The figure in front of him looked up at them which confirmed everything for the Guild Hunter who had been always hunting together with him when he was still new to everything, helping him to find true friends until he believed that he was dead, fighting the Mizutsune in the forest together with his companions to make revenge for him only to find out that it had been him for all that time.

"No. What I'm seeing is a mere Traitor who has transformed into one of the beings he vowed to destroy. He is a shame.", the Guild Master said with a cold grin as many Hunters began to take out their weapons.

"What!? You can't be serious!", The Guild Hunter shouted but the Guild Master only gave him a warning look.

"Why? Or do you want to protect this fool to proof that you're just like him?", he asked with an icy glare which told what he would do to those who would stand in his way. Some of the Hunters gave him an uncertain look to which he could only give them a pleading look while many others were doing the same as the Guild Master, taking out their weapons and preparing themselves. The Guild Master looked back at Ben, grinning before taking out his battle axe.

"You're worth to be disgusted, I hope you know that.", Ben only said with a voice without any Emotion, to which the Guild Master only smirked again while slowly taking steps closer to him.

"The only thing I know is that your dearly 'beloved' one should have another sight of you now.", he said but Ben didn't dared to look at her. He knew the expression she would have but he made her a promise.

"And I know that I will protect her as long as I live, regardless of what I am.", Ben said before looking up at the Guild Master again and took out his two Astalos daggers which he had on his sides, circling them before he charged at him. The Guild Master didn't stood still for long before he did the same as both of their weapons met each other's, the Astalos daggers sending Sparks through the air as Ben held the battle axe firmly on either side with one of his daggers to block it. The Guild Master pulled back and slashed at Ben from the side which Ben parried with both of his daggers before he gave him a Punch into his face which the Guild Master returned, Ben slashed his daggers at him which he could easily block before the Guild Master tried to hit him again with a simple hit from the Axe to which Ben parried only to be met with a Kick of his left leg into his stomach, Ben losing one of his daggers while he held his stomach with his left Hand before he got another Kick into his face which sent him back a bit while panting heavily, having to ignore the pain.

The Guild Master prepared for a last Strike with his Axe into his head when a Water Laser suddenly interrupted him and sent him backwards a bit. Ben looked in shock and disbelief at Blackclaw who growled with uncontrolled Anger at the Guild Master before she looked at Ben.

He didn't dare to look at her, to have never told her the truth for all that time, that he was just a Hunter who had nearly killed her…

But a soft yet strong nudge on his chin was forcing him to look up at her. She deeply gazed into his eyes for what felt like an eternity for him before she purred softly, rubbing the tip of her snout onto his face.

'Still those caring and loving eyes… he's still the same I know and love so dearly…", she thought to herself before giving him a lick. Ben couldn't believe it, all of it. Why was she still behaving like that? She should hate him, despise him and never look at him again… or did she… did she accept it? Suddenly a roar came from outside the den, the many Hunters crying out in pain as several electric attacks were hitting them. The Guild Master grunted in pain before he got up again, his eyes full with hatred when suddenly a Hammer landed beside him and the ground underneath him became filled with electricity which paralyzed him on the Spot.

"You haven't thought for once that you could harm my friend, did you?", a voice suddenly said from behind him. Ben looked at the figure which stepped in front of him, smiling warmly at him.

"Good to see you too my friend.", Darren muttered softly but he didn't had the time to reply before several fire bullets were being shot towards them to which the three didn't know what to do before suddenly many shields were being held in front of them, the bullets making impact on them before a big smoke Cloud covered the area until it disappeared again to reveal several Hunters standing protectively in front of them, the Hammer of Darren being thrown back to him again.

"What…?", Ben muttered with disbelief but the Guild Hunter in front of him gave him a kind look.

"We're going to do what we should have done a long time ago. We're going to stand at your side, my friend.", he said before facing the enemy Hunters in front of them again, which were about to fire at them again.

"'Traitors'!", one of them shouted before a Lightning Bolt hit him into his chest and sent him flying, until several more Lightnings followed which paralyzed some of the Hunters before a roar echoed through the Cave again.

"I should introduce my new friend to you, Ben.", Darren said as the enemy Hunters tried to Shield themselves from the electric attacks of the Lagiacrus standing at the entrance of the Cave before returning to Darren, the Hunters shielding Ben and his friends either shocked or smiling when Darren patted the Lagiacrus head. Ben was at a loss for words, not believing what happened while he was away, but as it seemed neither could Darren.

"I guess I'm not the only one who had this experience?", Darren said and looked at Blackclaw who covered Ben protectively, ignoring every kind of pain she felt even though Ben couldn't understand her anymore, she had accepted him…

He looked around and took in the sight which was offered around him, his friends protecting and fighting for him and his biggest fear being thrown away. He looked at the other Hunters and the Guild Master again, preparing for a last clash before he stood up again, new strength surging through him, grasping the Dagger tightly in his right Hand. He could feel Blackclaws's gaze upon him before he looked at her again, he didn't needed to say something before he held his Dagger into the air and circled it before he charged at the Guild Master as his Hunters and those from the Guild Master did the same, Darren directly beside Ben. The Guild Master prepared his Axe as Ben and Darren jumped into the air and slashed both the Hammer and Dagger towards him which he had to block with both of his hands before pushing both of them back. Ben slashed his Dagger at the left side of the Guild Master which he blocked with the tip of his Axe before the Punch of Darren's Hammer hit him into his face. Darren tried it again with another Punch into the Guild Master's stomach to which he jumped to the side before hitting the hilt of his Axe into Darren's chest which knocked the breath out of him for a Moment before he kicked him back, pushing Ben's Dagger out of his hand before trying to cut his head off.

Suddenly Ben felt an instinct to which he raised his and formed several bubbles which he fired against the Guild Master, making him stumble at first until it took the full Effect and he slipped before falling to the ground, the foam covering the den helping in the process.

"That shouldn't be possible anymore…!", he cursed while having problems to stand without struggling. Ben quickly picked up his Dagger and looked at it for a Moment before back to the Guild Master when he suddenly heard a Growl from behind. Blackclaw used the foam to her advantage and looked at him with an expression which he could read by now, surprised that he was still capable of doing that before her expression turned softer for a Moment. Another roar echoed through the den to which both of them looked away from each other for a brief Moment to see the Lagiacrus dealing with most of the enemy Hunters while the others were easily dealing with the Rest of them until the Lagiacrus noticed Darren laying on the ground and immediately rushed to his side before nudging him with its snout to which he stirred. Ben smiled at that before turning back to the Guild Master who had his Axe ready again, not able to charge without slipping. Ben grasped the Dagger in his Hand and looked at Blackclaw who gave him a warm look in return although he noticed the pain she was still having in her eyes. It sting in his heart but he couldn't do anything right now except making sure she'll never have to go through anything of that ever again, so they both faced their enemy again and charged at him together. Ben slashed his Dagger at him which he blocked with his Axe before Blackclaw fired another Water Laser at him which pushed him back, making him struggle intensely although still standing before she used the foam on the ground again and slashed her Tail at him which he couldn't block anymore to which he fell to the ground, dropping his Axe. Ben charged towards him and saw Blackclaw lowering her Tail to the ground while looking at him which he immediately understood. He stepped onto her Tail before she gave him a push into the air as he readied his Dagger which sparkled with electricity before dropping down onto the Guild Master...

XxxxxxX

The Guild Master looked at the Dagger which was pierced through his chest without a single Sound, his eyes widened as Ben looked at him with his hands still on the Dagger.

"Unbelievable… I've destroyed your little Group one by one and now you… you little pest…", he struggled for a last moment before his head fell to the ground as the life within him left his body. Ben let go of the Dagger and slowly stood up before suddenly staggering slightly back only to be caught by soft and warm purple fur, Blackclaw holding him with her forelegs to her chest, bending her head down to nuzzle his face lovingly to which he chuckled.

"Stop that… it tickles more than before…", he muttered happily to which she licked him. The last of the enemy Hunters were dealt with while some of them ran away in fear, the other Hunters cheering at their Victory while Darren watched the scene between his friend and the Mizutsune. He had missed a lot, that was for sure…

At least when he suddenly felt a nudge on his back to which he turned around to face the Monster which he called a friend by now. It looked at him with an expression he couldn't read until the Lagiacrus nudged him again, this time more softer and with a purr before looking at him again only to be met with a confused look from him to which she growled slightly before it decided to lick him and buried its head to his chest which only confused him more.

Ben looked at the Dead Guild Master again while Blackclaw looked at the remainings of their den. The ground covered with Dead Hunters and many places having holes or were damaged because of their weapons. And her Mate... Blackclaw looked at him again when he suddenly got up and walked towards the dead Guild Master and looked at his left Hand which confused her. Ben looked at the purple stone he was still having in his Hand before taking it out of his Hand and looked at it.

"Ben! Come on, the Hunters want to celebrate this Victory!", Darren called out before running towards him, standing beside him.

"What is it?", he asked while looking at the weird stone. Ben looked intensely at it before turning towards Blackclaw with a longing expression. Maybe he could still use the stone… but maybe this here was also his last Chance to be a human again…

He looked at Blackclaw again who looked at him with a sad look while Darren switched his Gaze between the two of them, not getting it. Ben looked at the stone again, he is bound to her, and only to her… and he wanted their hatchling to have a father who really was a Mizutsune… and most of all he wanted to be the same being again with which he had met and fallen for her for the first time.

Ben closed his eyes and focused every bit of him onto the stone, desperately hoping for it to work one last time.

"Ben? What are you-" the stone began to shine in a bright purple light again, bathing the den and surrounding Ben entirely again.

The Hunters looked at the sight in front of them again, covering their eyes while Blackclaw took a step closer with a half lidded Gaze until the light died down again and showed her what she had longed to see again. Darren looked at Ben again, letting his jaw Drop at this sight while Glowscale opened his eyes again to find himself in the body which he had grown used to over the many months together with Blackclaw. He was a Mizutsune again.

The stone was gone, Darren couldn't find any words but instead Glowscale could hear another voice again.

"You're… back again…", a soft voice said from behind him before he was thrown and pinned onto the ground by her, Blackclaw couldn't care less about the pain she felt, she could never look at her Mate for long enough as she could finally see him like that again.

"But… now you know what I truly am-"

"And I don't care. You're still the same kind and gentle being I love, regardless of how you look like…", she whispered before wrapping her Tail around his and hugging him tightly while nuzzling and locking every Spot of him she could find, pushing herself into his fur. Darren was astonished by the scene in front of him but could only hear the growls they've exchanged and nothing else, but nobody needed any words to understand this scene and he was happy for his friend, as were the Hunters who were witnessing this.

"Seeing this site of the Monsters makes me fill with regret…", the Guild Hunter said to which one of his companions nodded slowly and knowingly.

"But we've certainly made the right choice.", he replied with a smile while watching the two Mizutsune cuddle together.

XxxxxxX

"You want to leave?", Darren muttered sadly as Glowscale and Blackclaw left the den behind looking into the distance. Ben purred slightly to his friend which he couldn't understand but he could make out the reasons.

"I guess you want to forget this as soon as possible.", Darren muttered to which Ben shook his head.

"Many Hunters are still having the same sight of Monsters as before and I want to live in another place with her. But I think you to worry about other things.", Glowscale said amused as the Lagiacrus looked at Darren.

"I wonder when I can get him to understand. I don't like it when my mate is throwing rocks at me and is trying to get away every time I'm not looking.", The Lagiacrus said in a soothing female voice as she looked at him which Darren couldn't understand, neither what his friend had said as it only came out as a Growl for him, so he remained as clueless as ever.

"Maybe you'll just have to show him more what you want…", Glowscale muttered but was heard by the Lagiacrus nonetheless.

She looked at him for a Moment before at Blackclaw.

"You're looking pretty good too…", she said in a teasing tone to which Blackclaw growled and nuzzled him.

"Take good care of him.", the Lagiacrus said with a smile which surprised Blackclaw. Suddenly Darren walked towards Ben to which he looked down at him.

"Can I at least pet you?", Darren asked with a grin to which Glowscale growled slightly but with Amusement. Although Blackclaw didn't like it that everyone was trying to touch

 _her_ mate…

Both Mizutsune left the place as Darren was sad that their little Hunting Group wouldn't exist anymore. The Hunters made their way back towards the Guild to spread the news while he remained at the same Spot for a Moment with the Lagiacrus beside him.

"Don't you want to go back too?", Darren suddenly spoke up only to be met with a nudge on his shoulder to which he turned around to face the Lagiacrus before she pushed him to the ground her head and licked him. He laughed at that while petting her, he wasn't as alone as he thought, maybe he'll never be.

XxxxxxX

"Where are we going?", Blackclaw asked while nuzzling her Mate lovingly to which he purred softly.

"A place you'll like, trust me.", Glowscale said before she wrapped herself around him and looked at him lovingly.

"I always do."

 **And that's it! This time completely. Maybe I'll make a sequel later but that is your choice, for now that's it. Hope you enjoyed, thanks to everyone who has been still reading it until now. :)**

 **Have a wonderful day.**


	18. Starting a new Life

**Starting a new Life**

 _Blackness…growling… no, purring? He didn't know…_

 _He stirred, opening his eyes to make out his surroundings. He blinked a couple times only to see that he was in a cave, and that it was raining outside… it was soothing to listen to, the sun wasn't shining either… but that purring…_

 _He looked around once again before he froze in place as he caught sight of something. A monster… purple fur, the shape and its…_

 _His eyes widened as he remembered, of course he knew her! How could he not remember for a single second… he felt the need to hit himself. But he instantly calmed down again, too, for he knew that whenever she was nearby, he was safe… he was cared for… he was loved, so very much. But why was he not beside her? Furthermore, why did he feel so small…_

 _He froze again as he looked closer at the sleeping form of the one being he treasured more than anything, purring softly in her sleep as she held something close to her, wrapped and covered with her tail, a content smile on her mouth. A rush of emotions went through him as he gazed at her and… whatever else dared to be near her! Faster than he could comprehend himself he had already closed the distance between them before he could finally see what it was that was tightly cuddled around her tail… but it was… a human face, so familiar…_

 _Himself…!?_

XxxxxxxX

"Why does it have to rain now…", Darren muttered under his breath as his torch slowly went out, leaving a useless and burnt stick behind which he threw away. Suddenly a soft blue lightning emerged from behind him, lighting up the area around him, making him aware of the roots on the ground on which he almost tripped.

"Thank you…", he smiled at the origin of the light as a creature's head snaked its way around him, giving him a nuzzle. If anybody would see the two of them acting the way they were currently, they would either not believe it or be happy that it was truly possible for it to happen. A Lagiacrus, king of the sea and the origin of many incidents involving ships that simply vanished as soon as they would even get a glimpse of the light it was emitting. And said creature was currently standing behind a human, content in giving him nuzzles to the face.

Would he ever be able to understand it? After he realized that it had no ill intends towards him, he doubted he would ever understand the world he was living in. But neither did he wanted to, he was more than happy to always learn something new in it, especially now that he was bound to this Lagiacrus. Another detail that might be worth to mention is that he literally _was_ bound to it, he found out in first hand experience that it was quite possessive of him… and caring.

The forest around him was dense, the air smelling of wet dirt as the rain purred down but it didn't bother him in any way, if anything, he loved the weather as it currently was, he always loved it when it was raining, the many clouds that were covering the sky, the calm sound of the raindrops falling to the ground and the two of them being the only beings to currently wander through the current area, it made him more excited than he already was. And it seemed like he wasn't the only one who was enjoying himself, the Lagiacrus would occasionally purr and swish its tail on the ground in contentment. It always excited him anew that he was traveling without a certain destination in mind but he could never let his guard down. Even though traveling together with a monster was able to lessen his fear of being attacked significantly.

And once again this ridiculous thought was making him smile in amusement. A ridiculous thought that turned out to be real…

Suddenly a little bit of light landed on his helmet, making him look up to see an end of the forest, a clearing right in front of him. New excitement flooded him as he quickened his pace, and so too, did his companion who grew closer to him the more time he spent with it. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how much time he had already spend with it. It was a month already since he had witnessed the fall of the Guildmaster first hand. A month since he had bonded with the Lagiacrus and came to know it in many ways, in such an unexpected way. A month since he had last seen his dear friend. And his mate…

He closed his eyes for a moment in contentment, truly, if it wasn't for Ben, he probably would have never met the Lagiacrus. If it hadn't happened, Ben would have never found _her_. Somehow it just made him feel happy whenever he thought about the two Mizutsune, they just had an aura surrounding them which could only make everyone smile. Of course he could never see how close the two of them were, but these things were just for them alone to witness. He just hoped they were happy right now, wherever they were at this moment…

At the first step he took out of the forest he gasped as he gazed at the view being offered in front of him. He stood on a cliff which gave him a full view of a beautiful sea, connecting to the ocean further in the distance. A dirt path on his left led down towards an open and green area where a small waterfall and many plants were creating a calm and peaceful feeling together with the rain. Behind him he could hear the heavy steps of the Lagiacrus, a purr electing from it as it gazed into the same direction as him before it slightly nuzzled him. He laid his hands onto its head for balance, laughing lightly as it elected another purr from it while it was constantly keeping eye contact with him. As he looked back into its eyes he truly wondered what the goal or desire of this monster was. Did it see him as a parent? Or did it follow him to find prey more easily? Were there any other reasons? He just didn't get it. He didn't get it from day one and still doesn't. It was a mystery to him…

Regardless, they had just found an environment which was screaming at them to start a new life here, and he couldn't wait to see this region for himself. Perhaps he would find out in due time what this Lagiacrus had in mind. But however much his mind was telling him that this was a monster which was currently a threat to his life, he never felt threatened around it. Instead, his feelings were telling him that it had no ill intentions towards him… but he didn't know what else there was to it…

Slowly he stepped back from its head and turned towards the small path leading into the next area before he took the first steps towards it. They had in all the time they spent together not met a serious threat. Somehow they were very lucky when it came to monster encounters, normally even the little Jaggi's that would at least bother him if it wasn't something else beating him, they didn't dare to approach his companion, a single look was enough to send them running away. He would always remember the way it positioned itself around whenever this was the case, it underlined the word _possessiveness_ once again.

His eyes rested on the plants that grew in the area as they entered it, looking for something useful or interesting as he took out a small book. He didn't know what kind of monster could live around such an area, wide grassy areas, forests, a sea not far away, cliffs… beside the standard monsters he quickly scanned through his small monster guide he had always with him. Though after a moment he closed it again for two reasons, one that there were simply too many which could live here, two that if he should encounter one, he could just surprise himself with it.

A small amount of honey coating the ground a little bit away from him picked his interest before he made his way towards it. Honey could be just what he needed, his potions could always need some improvements…

A roar brought him out of his thoughts as he looked up in shock, an Arzuros stood on its hind legs as it growled at him before it jumped down onto the ground in front of him, making him stumble backwards and onto the wet dirt. Still caught off guard he was merely able to look as it was about to pound onto him before an electric bolt hit it in its chest, causing it to fall onto its back, the electricity still surging through it indicating that it was paralyzed by the attack. It whimpered helplessly as the Lagiacrus gave an enraged roar before it charged yet another lightning ball in its mouth before firing it into the Arzuros side, causing it to growl before it immediately took the chance to run away as fast as it could as soon as the paralysis wore off. The Lagiacrus still snarled as it watched the limping monster flee the area before it immediately directed its whole attention towards the Hunter still on the ground in mild shock as he slowly got up, rushing over to him. Darren could only stand for half a second before he was pinned to the ground again, being face to face with the Lagiacrus as he could feel its warm breath through his armor, its eyes looking intently at him.

"I'm…alright… thank you.", he chuckled nervously as he looked back into its eyes, surprised to see its expression soften slightly before it slowly pulled its foreleg off of him, giving him enough space to get up. He blinked a couple times before he yet again started to wonder if it somehow understood him… it was not the first time that it seemingly reacted _exactly_ to what he said…

Unbeknownst to him, however, there was a pair of eyes watching the both of them ever their arrival, quietly observing the scene before the figure disappeared back into the forest above them…

XxxxxxxX

Ben's eyes snapped open, sighing in relief as he realized that everything was still as before, noticing Blackclaw still laying around him in a possessive grip, occasionally purring before shifting her head closer into his neck. So it was just a dream… he himself being with her at the exact same place, only that he was still his old self… he couldn't do otherwise but wonder at it. Blackclaw had said it herself with so much care that she didn't care if he would have stayed as a human… it was one of the most precious moments he had in his life, truly. He would forever be lucky and blessed to have met her, yes, a monster, as everyone else would say. But not him. And neither would he dwell for too long on the matter, he was with her, and that was all that mattered.

To say that she liked this area would be an understatement, he smiled as images of her glee and happiness came back into his mind as he had led her into the Flooded Forest, the almost constant rain and wet environment was a dream for the both of them. He had feared that she would have prefered a more open area such as the Misty Peaks, but in the end she was so happy that she kept playing around, gleefully exploring everything while always stopping at any cave she deemed fit before purring at him softly, asking him if he liked it too. It was fun searching for a new place they could call home, but there was also the fact that Blackclaw was just as full of energy and happy to move as before. But more importantly was what was tightly secured and wrapped around by the both of them, and they would both guard it until they would be both no more should it ever come down to it.

Suddenly Blackclaw stirred before she slowly opened her eyes, instantly locking her gaze with his. She smiled warmly at him with a half lidded gaze as she slowly moved her tail across his, caressing it with her fur.

"I never want to wake up in any other way.", she purred as she slowly rubbed her head against his, nuzzling it in the process. And neither did he.

Not when they belonged to be like this…

 **Alright, I'll continue just as I have originally planned… I just realized that it has already been two years since I've started this story :/ that went by quicker than I expected, but that doesn't mean that I can't continue this, so I'll do just that. I hope you enjoyed.**

 **Have a nice day!**


	19. Moga Village

**Moga Village**

A gentle breeze was in the air, different smells of fresh food and fish joining it, while some people looked through the mouthwatering food being made by a Felyne. Along with it, a small boat slowly approached the village over the sea, halting at the dock as two fishermen got off from it, proudly looking at their acquired fish.

"Now that's what I'm calling a successful catch!", a fisherman said to his comrade as he observed his boat, loaded to the brink with tons of fish.

"Can't say that this happens very often, not with _it_ still roaming free around here. Guess we're lucky that it seemed to have been absent today, but now that I think about it, we haven't seen it for quite a while. We should drink upon not having crossed its way while also still being alive and having caught that many fish! Maybe it is a sign that things are finally getting be-"

"Chief! CHIEF! Where-", suddenly a young woman rushed towards them, failing to notice one of the two standing in her way before they collided with each other.

"Agh! What the… oh, it's you. I should've known… what's the matter Robin?", he asked with a sigh as he rubbed his head. The young woman in return only smiled apologetically before slowly getting up from the ground. She was clad in gear and armor consisting purely out of leather, marking her as a hunter. A bow was on her back, crafted out of bones and reinforced with parts of Arzuros pelt.

"Forgive me, I should've been more careful.", she rubbed her head sheepishly before her expression turned serious again.

"But I must warn the Chief! I knew it, I always knew it! The Guild is always involved in dirty things, and this is once again no difference-"

"Hold on, I can't follow you! What exactly happened?", the fisherman said while his partner listened with his whole attention, looking at the young hunter expectantly.

"The Lagiacrus. It has shown itself again. I saw it as it fought against an Arzuros, but it was not alone. There was another hunter! And you won't believe this, this hunter was originally ambushed by the Arzuros before the Lagiacrus actually saved him! I wanted to help him myself but after seeing _this_ , I became suspicious. It is impossible that a monster would just help a hunter just because it had a good day! This is laughable! I'm telling you, it _was_ the Guild which has sent this Lagiacrus here with this hunter probably having tamed it. I don't know how they did it, but they are probably experimenting with it! Maybe trying to have monsters as weapons! Maybe they'll try to wipe us out as a test! Maybe they are the cause for those earthquakes! Maybe they'll-"

"Calm down! I'm sure there was something which you have interpreted in the wrong way. I know that you don't like the Guild but you can not just assume things now! If what you said is true, then we'll see about this hunter and try to ask him peacefully what happened there. But if the Lagiacrus has shown up again, then you must warn the Chief. We can't suffer another earthquake now, not after the last one. But first, we'll need to see another side of this story. Maybe we can prevent the Lagiacrus from damaging our village without harming it… I'll be looking for this hunter, go to the Chief. I think he's currently talking with the Guild Lady."

"I'll do that. But don't think that I'll just forget about the Guild. I don't think that they're innocent, as it is always the case…", she spoke with venom in her voice before she left the two fishermen alone again, not waiting for a reply. Silence hung in the air for a moment before the second fisherman broke it.

"What do you think about all of this?"

"Honestly? I so desperately want to believe that a monster would truly protect a human when he would have been slaughtered otherwise… we don't know what is possible in this world. And I don't think that the Guild has something to do with it. It has changed. And so have many other things. We need to find this hunter and ask him about all of this in order to bring light into this. If the Lagiacrus truly _did_ save the hunter, then maybe there was no reason for us to hunt it. Maybe the earthquakes weren't its doing…"

"I've never seen you talk like that ever… those _are_ monsters we're talking about, right? Because this sounds… unnatural to me.", he said as he crossed his arms.

"Unnatural because we don't know it. Everything we don't know seems unnatural, of course. But think about it, wouldn't that be something beautiful? Can you not see what this would mean? A monster actually protecting one of us… if that would be true, wouldn't you feel bad for hurting the Lagiacrus? Imagine if it wasn't the cause of our suffering, and it received so many wounds because of us that it actually had to leave its home here… imagine if said monster would have still saved one of us. Wouldn't that mean something to you?"

His partner was silent afterwards before he wordlessly turned around, walking towards a set of stairs which towards the small farm of the village. He halted just an inch in front of them before he slightly turned his head.

"We'll see. If you are right, I would be. I truly would be, you can believe me that. But I don't think so, as much as I would want to, just like you. Those _are_ monsters. Remember that. We have suffered worse because of them, and that is why we are hunting them.", he muttered as he turned around again before he left. The fisherman only looked after him as he pondered about his words. But ultimately, he shook his head. They were hunting them because they were defending themselves? Maybe, sometimes. But is that an excuse to go out and slaughter them to gain their materials? Parts of their bodies? To make them suffer in the worst ways, in order to gain access to _gear_? He couldn't agree with that. And neither would he. It couldn't be meant to be like that. Not when there were other ways. And this hunter could just be the answer to that…

XxxxxxxX

"Chew on this!", Darren shouted as he sliced the Jaggi in front of him, yet it jumped back up regardless before two more appeared behind it, circling him. Suddenly a roar erupted from behind them as another pack of Jaggi flew through the air, impacting on the ground on various places, one even hitting one of the three Jaggi who were until now only focused on him, scaring the other two away. Darren sighed as he put his sword back on his back, looking at the Lagiacrus. Its crystals were still charging in a soft blue light, crackling with electricity from its last attack, and no doubt it was only a small part of what it was truly capable of. Once again he was thankful that it was with him. He couldn't imagine what this pack would have done to him otherwise, he would have been torn apart…

A gentle nudge on his helmet brought him out of his thoughts as he looked up to see it standing in front of, having closed the distance without him actually realizing. It looked back at him before it let out a low growl, pushing its head against his again, this time however pushing his head a little bit upwards. What did he do to be treated like this? He enjoyed it, it was fun to mess around together with it. This region was literally screaming at him to start a new life here, it was even more beautiful than he would have imagined it to be. Unfortunately, while they were exploring the area, he had unknowingly walked right up into the home of a Jaggi pack. The Lagiacrus, however, did never for a single second leave his side. It was amazing how much he could feel at ease while travelling with it. Regardless, this area would have actually been a good place to live for him. He liked the den the Jaggi had lived in before, it was hidden inside of the forest they were currently in. Many plants were growing not far away, and there was wildlife everywhere! But still, he would never take this place as his new home. He knew that his companion would rather enjoy a place where there would also be at least a lake nearby, he knew that much. If anything, regarding the fact where it had previously lived. He may not know why it choose to go with him, but he knew for sure that he valued it more than anything else. Just as it didn't leave his side and protected him from anything that would ever have threatened him, he would do everything for it he could, too. Besides, Ben was living together with a Mizutsune and was happier than he was ever before in his life? That was how he felt like right now. It may not be able to talk with him, but it was never needed. He could understand it without a word, and so could it understand him. He knew that. And so he would also let it choose where it wanted to go. Wherever it went, he would go with it. He felt like he had somebody in his life again, he was never alone as it was with him. And so it was even before he discovered that their beloved hunting group would never be complete ever again. Perhaps it was bound to break up at some point? When everyone would find somebody special in their life… he would have only wished that it wouldn't have ended as it did for the two of them… they didn't deserve any of this…

And he didn't know if he himself would ever find somebody he would spend his life with. And in truth, he didn't believe that he ever would. But that didn't mean that he couldn't live somewhere where this Lagiacrus also felt at home.

"Right? I'm sure you would rather love to live somewhere else, where there would be a _lot_ of water, not far away from the land perhaps.", Darren smiled as the Lagiacrus purred softly, nudging him gently once again. Suddenly it turned to its side, lowering itself slightly before gazing at him again, patiently waiting. He stood there for a moment, not knowing what it was that it desired but after a while, it moved even closer towards him, its tail nudging him towards its side before it wrapped around him, catching him by surprise. Yet he quickly calmed down again as it simply placed him on its back, just in front of its crystals. He looked at them for a moment in pure admiration as they glowed in a gentle blue light before he looked back to see that the Lagiacrus was directly gazing back at him.

And he _swore_ he could have seen a smile on its mouth.


	20. Fateful Encounter

**Fateful Encounter**

"Dear, you have to slow down. Take a moment to breath.", the old Chief said with a kind voice as he looked at the exhausted young hunter. He smiled lightly as she sighed deeply before taking his advice.

"Now tell me, what is it that brought you into such a hurry, young one?", the sudden glint and determination in her eyes made him wonder, it was in times like these where Robin was truly serious about something. Whatever it was that bothered her at this moment, it was a serious matter.

"Chief, I was hunting in the Forest when I saw something with my own eyes that was impossible. There was… another hunter, I'm pretty sure he was, if his armor was anything to go by. He was threatened by an Arzuros that ambushed him in a clearing…"

The Chief was silently listening as she raised her head to meet his eyes.

"... but he was rescued. By the Lagiacrus. I was shocked when I saw this, I came back here immediately. The others told me not to overreact, and I know it sounds so unbelievable but…!"

She stopped when she noticed that the Chief was blankly staring at her, not moving by an inch. Worrying that she might have said something wrong, she slowly waved a hand in front of him, making him snap out of it.

"Is… everything alright?", he regarded her for yet another moment before he directed his gaze towards the ground slightly.

"Dear, if I could have a moment of your time?", he asked as he motioned her to sit down on one of the pillows laying inside of the wooden house. She hesitantly nodded as she sat down. She's never seen this expression on him, ever. It was as if his eyes were hollow, staring into nothingness for but a moment before they regained the life in them, snapping back to reality. He seemed to be so… lost in his mind.

"I would like to share a story with you that I experienced in my youth and cherished ever since. I think it is only fitting to tell you."

Her expression turned into a confused one at this, she _definitely_ never saw him in such a state. How was this connected to the matter at hand? She was patiently waiting for him to continue as he took a glance outside, the peaceful atmosphere making him smile fondly.

"But first I must ask you, what did you feel when you saw it happen?", he asked with a small smile.

"Wait, you… believe me?", he only chuckled lightly in response.

"Why ever would I doubt you, Robin? You are an honest and kind person, I would never assume that you are lying to me. So I may ask again, what did you feel as you it happen?"

She was silent for a moment as she pondered about how to answer this question. What _did_ she feel? Her first reaction was quite clear, she was immediately connecting it with the guild, making her angry that they were somehow responsible for the earthquakes they were suffering from. But that didn't had to do anything with the Lagiacrus actually saving this hunter. What did she think about that?

"I… I don't know… I honestly don't. I guess, I felt quite… surprised? But a monster would never do that, there had to be another reason, or maybe I just didn't understand the situation correctly but-"

"So you didn't approve of it?", his voice was calm and curious, tilting his head just slightly to one side as he regarded her.

"N-no but, I mean… I am so happy for this hunter, who knows what might have happened to him if it didn't interfere but there must have been a purpose for it to act the way it did. I don't know what it was, but-"

"And what would you say if it, perhaps, saved this person because it shared a bond with him?"

Silence. Nothing was heard except the villagers going after their daily routines outside as she blinked her eyes, taking in the meaning of this sentence.

"A… bond? Impossible.", she didn't say anything else as she looked at the Chief with the most serious expression she could muster. Surely he didn't mean it like that, did he? That was even more impossible than the actual scene she had witnessed. To her surprise he only smiled warmly as he closed his eyes.

"As you may know, I was a hunter just like you in my youth."

"But of course I know! You never actually told me though any stories those times though.", now Robin had a smile on her face too. She could literally see the memories which were surely flooding him right now as he kept his eyes closed, the content and calm smile never fading for a moment.

"Ah yes, the joyous times of when there was nothing but me and my weapon, together we would search the greatest challenges and see all of the world. Elder dragons, giant beasts, breathtaking sceneries, I've seen them all. But… eventually, even all of this would change. And I could have never seen it coming."

Robin turned confused once more as his expression did not falter but his tone changed rapidly in what she could only guess was… sadness? Or happiness? She couldn't make out which one it was, maybe even both. She watched him curiously as he picked up a mug filled with water, looking at the surface of it slightly moving as he seemed to be lost in it.

"You know, I was never interested in searching a quiet place to rest once I would age. If I would, I would still take a punch and see most of the world as long as I could I told myself. And neither was I in any kind interested of becoming attached to another person. For me, my world was out there. With the monsters, my freedom and my weapon. That was all I ever needed, and I never regretted anything, regardless of how many times I was told that I would lose interest in time. It would go into one ear and straight out of the other.", he laughed wholeheartedly before he coughed slightly. Robin watched him intently as his stare at the water in his mug became melancholic.

"In a sense, I was just… connected to them. The monsters. They were a part of me. Without them, I wouldn't know what to do. But that is, when suddenly one day I heard of a new monster… and of course, I wanted to search for it. It was located here, in the Moga Forest."

"But I thought the village only existed after a year of your retirement?"

"That is true, back then, it was of course not called the Moga Forest. It was new territory for the guild, and I was one of the few that were sent to explore this new piece of land. And I was tasked to find this peculiar monster… a Lagiacrus."

Her eyes widened a bit at this, leaning slightly forward as she waited for him to continue.

"It was told that it destroyed several of our ships in a single blink of an eye, the flickering lights of its charged crystals the only thing the sailors would still get to see before they were never seen again… and these rumors were exactly what spurred me on. It was that which made me feel alive. And so I went to go and see it for myself. Rumors were just that, but you would never know a monster when you didn't see it with your own eyes. The guild located one of them at the end of the forest, connecting it with the ocean that was beyond. I went alone, as foolish as it was, it was a decision that changed my life forever. And I couldn't have been more grateful that I did it. I went on, moving through the open grass and tall forest, a destination clear in mind. And stepping out of the forest… I saw it for the first time. It lay curled together in a spot that was warmed by the sun, its gaze was directed towards me, but its eyes were closed… it didn't matter to me what I have seen before, somehow it was just… fascinating me, I couldn't do otherwise but admire it. I don't know for how long I stood there, even now…", he chuckled as his smile returned slightly.

Robin on the other hand was bound to this story, she tried to guess where he was going with this but she just couldn't make it out…

"No monster dared to approach it, even as it seemed to sleep. But of course, a Jaggi wouldn't care. A small pack of them with no leader, decided it would be a good idea to wake it up. And wake up it did. With grace and swiftness it uncurled and charged its crystals immediately, lightning filling the air around it as it uncurled, roasting the Jaggi's on the spot as it remained standing still for just a moment before its eyes locked onto mine. I stood there, paralyzed. It was the first time I ever had in my life that I found myself unable to do anything. I couldn't look away, I can't describe the sensations I have felt… it was almost as if it was talking to me."

Now Robin was beyond confused. What did he mean by that?

"After what felt like an eternity for me, I remembered the reason why I was standing here. It was _not_ to admire it… and this was when I for the first time I ever doubted that I could attack it. To cause it harm. I tried to tell myself that it would attack me any minute and regardless how much time passed… it never did. I tensed as it slowly took a careful step towards me but it stopped immediately, almost as if it didn't wanted to frighten me… however, when I reached for my weapon, it looked into my eyes again and slightly tilted its head to the side before it moved back again and ultimately left. I was frozen in place. I couldn't help but stare at the empty space where it was standing a mere moment ago, trying desperately to understand what happened. I didn't follow it… I went back to the camp…"

Robin watched with a blank stare as she took in every piece of what she just heard. Surprising herself, she merely found herself wanting to know what happened after that.

"But… that was not just it, was it? And what did you tell the guild?", she asked to which he laughed again.

"That I failed to finish this quest. Simple as that. I can still see the faces of my old friends as they just stared at me as if I had just slapped them. If there was one thing everybody knew about me, it was that I would never admit a defeat or give up. But the last thing I did was giving up, in fact I told the local Authorities again and again that I would take the quest and try again. The Lagiacrus never left my mind ever since I had this encounter. It was as if it was the first time that I had ever seen a monster, that feeling that I thought I would never have again. But this time, it was even more intense. For it did not attack me… it almost seemed even hesitant to approach me… I don't know what it was that made me feel like it was more than just a monster. But from this moment on, my view slowly started to change.", he stopped for a brief moment as a big smile formed on his face as he looked at the water with small tears at the corner of his eyes.

"And so did many other things in my life as I met it again…"

 **I apologize if I should take too long to update but I always want to write when there is an actual spark that I can use. Otherwise I would just sit in front of the screen while desperately trying to write something I had no motivation for :(**

 **Soulinvoker: I'm glad I can finally get to it ^^**

 **Darth Leo: Then I'm all the more happy that you enjoyed this one!**

 **Have a nice day!**


End file.
